WhatsApp to Delhi HC 'Will shut down in India if told to break encryption'

Online messaging app WhatsApp told the Delhi High Court that it will shut down its operations in India if it is forced to break its end-to-end encryption and identify the original senders of messages on its platform.

This stance was presented by WhatsApp’s lawyer, Tejas Karia, during a hearing at the Delhi High Court where WhatsApp and



its parent company Meta (formerly Facebook) have challenged Rule 4(2) of India’s 2021 Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules.

Rule 4(2) requires significant social media intermediaries, like WhatsApp, to enable the identification of the original sender of information upon a lawful order.