WhatsApp Launches Legal Action Against Indian Government Over Social Media Clampdown

WhatsApp app on a display of tablet PC. ©Sharaf Maksumov/123RF.COM

Faizel Patel – 26/05/2021

WhatsApp has launched legal action against the India government over new internet regulations requiring the messaging app to break its privacy guarantees.

According to AFP, the regulations, which took effect the same day comes at a time of growing tensions between social media giants and the Indian government, which has demanded tech companies remove content critical of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

WhatsApp told AFP it had filed a case in the Delhi High Court.

The Facebook subsidiary did not give details of the legal action but made clear its opposition to the new guidelines that would also affect Twitter, Instagram and other platforms.

WhatsApp, which claims 500 million users in India, said it would keep cooperating with “valid legal requests” for information from authorities.

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