Information and Broadcasting Minister Ashwini Vaishnav has given big information about the social messaging platform WhatsApp. He has told that Meta has not given any information to the government about shutting down its WhatsApp service in India. This statement of the IT Minister has come to the fore on the question asked by Congress leader Vivek Tankha. The Congress leader had asked whether WhatsApp is planning to shut down its service in India for not following the government’s instructions to share user details.
Recall that earlier this year, WhatsApp had warned the Delhi High Court that if the company was forced to break the encryption of messages, it would stop working in India. After this statement, WhatsApp users in India were in tension. Meta had directly challenged India’s new IT rules. It was said on behalf of Meta that these rules violate the right to privacy.
What did Ashwini Vaishnav say?
The IT Minister has clarified that the government’s instructions related to social media platforms have been issued to ensure national security and public order. These rules are to protect India’s sovereignty and security and maintain friendship with other countries. Apart from this, it is to prevent any activity that can provoke crime apart from public order.
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Mark Zuckerberg has praised India
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has already praised India for adopting messaging technology. Mark Zuckerberg had said that India is a global leader in this field. India is the largest market for WhatsApp with 400 million users. This is why both are very important for each other.