A recent demand made by India for Whatsapp to come up with a solution to enable tracking the origin of messages on the platform was rejected by the firm by citing reasons like building traceability will undermine the very feature of end-to-end encryption and affect user’s privacy protection.

The Facebook-owned company emphasized that people utilize the platform to go through “sensitive conversations”, and said that the focus as of now is to prioritize educating people.

Since the trend of mob-lynching started in India due to the spread of fake news through online mediums especially WhatsApp, the government at the center has been pushing for the need of a technology solution in Whatsapp to trace the origin of messages. According to the government, the move can help curb heinous crimes like mob-lynching occurring mainly due to fake news.

“Building traceability would undermine end-to-end encryption and the private nature of WhatsApp, creating the potential for serious misuse. WhatsApp will not weaken the privacy protections we provide,” a WhatsApp spokesperson told PTI.

As per the sources in IT Ministry, the government has pressed the WhatsApp to explore technical solutions to enable knowing the origin which can curb such provocative and nefarious messages which go in mass circulation without any control ending up inciting violence and crime.

The ministry is also trying to get a firm assurance of compliance under Indian laws from the company and had also directed the company to establish grievance officer with a wide network, according to a source who is familiar with the views of the ministry over the matter.

The ministry also asserted that the company needs to set up a local corporate entity which will be subject to Indian laws within a defined timeframe.

Since the past few months, WhatsApp has shown its inability to control the spread of fake news through its online medium that has sometimes resulted in incidents of mob-lynching in several parts of the country.

Earlier this week, the Head of WhatsApp Chris Daniels held a meet with IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad, after the meeting was over, Mr. Prasad told the news reporters that the government has directed WhatsApp to set up a local corporate entity and find a solution using technology to enable the origin of fake messages circulated through the platform along with the appointment of a grievance officer.

The minister acknowledged the crucial role played by the company in the making of the digital story of India but asserted sternly that WhatsApp could face abetment charges if it were not to take any action to tackle the issue of fake news being spread on the platform.

After the meeting, Mr. Daniels declined to comment over the issue of proceedings.

“People use our platform for all kinds of sensitive conversations”

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