Yesterday there were many TV debates in which the issue WhatsApp filing a petition in Delhi High Court was discussed. As usual the set of spokespersons of anti India political parties went on spreading false information that the Government is trying to muzzle free speech and infringe Privacy while WhatsApp is trying to protect the Indian constitution.
These developments have made it necessary for the Government to come up with three notifications trying to clear the misconceptions.
In a press release dated 26th May 2021, the Government has assured the public that
“The Government Respects the Right of Privacy and Has No Intention to Violate it When WhatsApp is Required to Disclose the Origin of a Particular Message. Such Requirements are only in case when the message is required for Prevention, Investigation or Punishment of Very Serious Offences related to the sovereignty and integrity of India, the security of the State, friendly relations with foreign States, or public order, or of incitement to an offence relating to the above or in relation with rape, sexually explicit material or child sexual abuse material”
It is because of the malicious nature of our pollical parties that the Government has to state what is obvious and is already contained in the Intermediary Guideline because the opponents of the Government speak telling lies without any inhibitions. Many of the TV anchors are themselves trying to mislead the public either because of ignorance or deliberately.
The above press statement also refers to an International statement released by the US department of justice notification which called upon the technology companies to work with the Governments to take steps such as
” Enable law enforcement access to content in a readable and usable format where an authorisation is lawfully issued, is necessary and proportionate, and is subject to strong safeguards and oversight; and Engage in consultation with governments and other stakeholders to facilitate legal access in a way that is substantive and genuinely influences design decisions”
It also stated that technology companies should
” Embed the safety of the public in system designs, thereby enabling companies to act against illegal content and activity effectively with no reduction to safety, and facilitating the investigation and prosecution of offences and safeguarding the vulnerable;”
This statement has also been signed by UK, Australia, New Zealand, India and Japan.
Obviously, WhatsApp has not moved any International Court to protect the privacy of international citizens. It has moved Indian Court because it is assured of the support of many Indian politicians and media.
The press note has also quoted the Brazillian Government notification that it is looking for WhatsApp to provide suspect’s IP addresses, customer information, geo-location data and physical messages.
I hope that all of us who accept the Privacy policies of companies which state “We respect your Privacy” and go onto infringe them, will also accept the intention of the Government as expressed here in the press note.
Note to All Significant Social Media Intermediaries (SSMI)
MeitY also issued a circular addressed to all the SSMI s to provide information about the Chief Compliance officer, Nodal Contact person and the Resident Grievance officer, physical contact address etc., and the current compliance.
The Ministry of I& B also released a press note regarding furnishing of information by digital media publishers under Rule 18 of the Intermediary rules.
This rule states as follows:
FURNISHING OF INFORMATION
18. Furnishing of information.— (1) A publisher of news and current affairs content and a publisher of online curated content operating in the territory of India, shall inform the Ministry about the details of its entity by furnishing information along with such documents as may be specified, for the purpose of enabling communication and coordination.
(2) The information referred to in sub-rule (1) shall be furnished within a period of thirty days of the publication of these rules, and where such publisher begins operation in the territory of India or comes into existence after commencement of these rules, within thirty days from the date of start of its operations in the territory of India or its coming into existence, as the case may be.
(3) The publisher of news and current affairs content and the publisher of online curated content shall publish periodic compliance report every month mentioning the details of grievances received and action taken thereon.
(4) The Ministry may call for such additional information from the publisher as it may consider necessary for the implementation of this Rule.
The Press release clarifies that there is no requirement for prior registration of digital media publishers with the ministry.
However information in one of the following formats needs to be furnished within the next 15 days.
a) Appendix I meant for digital news publishers which also publish/telecast news on traditional media such as TV and News paper
b) Appendix II for digital news publishers
c) Appendix III for publishers of online curated content (OTT platforms).
“News and Current Affairs Content” applicable to digital news publishers ‘ includes newly received or noteworthy content, including analysis, especially about recent events primarily of socio-political, economic or cultural nature, made available over the internet or computer networks, and any digital media shall be news and current affairs content where the context, substance, purpose, import and meaning of such information is in the nature of news and current affairs content.
‘publisher of news and current affairs content’ means an online paper, news portal, news aggregator, news agency and such other entity called by whatever name, which is functionally similar to publishers of news and current affairs content but shall not include newspapers, replica e-papers of the newspaper and any individual or user who is not transmitting content in the course of systematic business, professional or commercial activity;
‘publisher of online curated content’ means a publisher who, performing a significant role in determining the online curated content being made available, makes available to users a computer resource that enables such users to access online curated content over the internet or computer networks, and such other entity called by whatever name, which is functionally similar to publishers of online curated content but does not include any individual or user who is not transmitting online curated content in the course of systematic business, professional or commercial activity;
Essentially the information sought consists of the contact details and Grievance redressal mechanism.
Blogs such as Naavi.org are not considered to be “Digital News Publishers” since the prime objective of such sites is to express the views of the blog owner. There is no collection of news from reporters nor focus only on “News”.
Twitter and WhatsApp have taken a stand to oppose the regulations while OTT platforms are mostly trying to comply with the law.
In view of the clarifications mentioned in the press note of MeitY, the Delhi High Court may consider the WhatsApp petition is an unwarranted intrusion to the functioning of the Government.
Even if the Court decides to admit the petition to go through some relevant legal issues, there is no need for stay since WhatsApp had 3 months time to put its systems in place and chose not to do so.
Naavi
