Advertisement

Updated May 26th, 2021 at 22:18 IST

Asaduddin Owaisi breaks silence on Centre's row with WhatsApp over new social media rules

AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi hit out at the Centre over the implementation of the new IT rules and alleged that the fresh guidelines violated Article 14, 19, 21

Reported by: Koushik Narayanan
Owaisi
PTI / Unsplash composite image | Image:self
Advertisement

AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi hit out at the Centre over the implementation of the new IT rules and alleged that the fresh guidelines violated Article 14, 19 & 21 of the Indian Constitution. Terming the new IT guidelines as 'unconstitutional rules', Owaisi claimed that the new guidelines would make India similar to Russia, China & North Korea. Owaisi's remarks come hours after social media giant WhatsApp moved to Delhi High Court on Wednesday morning seeking the new IT rules to be declared 'unconstitutional & illegal' and the government hit back stipulating why they are not. 

Asaduddin Owaisi calls new IT rules 'undemocratic'

AIMIM's Owaisi accused the ruling BJP of using the police force to go after their critics and went on to cite the raids conducted at the offices of Twitter by the Delhi Police in the Congress 'toolkit' probe. Owaisi exuded confidence in the Court dismissing the new IT rules and touted the new rules as 'undemocratic & unconstitutional.' Pointing out that late BJP stalwart Arun Jaitley had opposed the introduction of such rules during the UPA regime, Owaisi claimed that the new IT rules were nothing but 'BJP & PM Modi's stubbornness' and that the saffron party did not want anyone to 'talk about' them or the PM.  

Centre responds to WhatsApp, 'won't violate Right to Privacy' 

The Ministry of Electronics & IT responded to WhatsApp's allegations over the new IT rules and categorically stated that the Union Govt respected privacy & had 'no intentions to violate it when WhatsApp was required to disclose the origin of a message'. Reiterating the govt's commitment to ensure the Right to Privacy, Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad assured WhatsApp that its normal functioning will not be affected by the implementation of the new IT rules. A press release from the Ministry of Electronics & IT quoted Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad saying, “the Government of India is committed to ensure the Right of Privacy to all its citizens but at the same time it is also the responsibility of the government to maintain law and order and ensure national security.” Accordingly, it has assured that if details are sought to determine the originator of a particular message, it would only be so as a last resort, and will appropriate legal authorisation seeing as it would entail a 'reasonable restriction' in the fundamental right to privacy.

Noting that the Right to Privacy was subject to reasonable restrictions, the press release pointed out that the requirements in the Intermediary Guidelines pertaining to the first originator of information were an example of such reasonable restriction. Further, the order to trace the originator for the 'prevention, investigation, punishment etc. of inter alia an offence relating to sovereignty, integrity and security of India, public order incitement to an offence relating to rape, sexually explicit material or child sexual abuse material punishable with imprisonment for not less than five years', GoI's press release said. Citing the circulation & recirculation of messages on WhatsApp in cases of mob lynching and riots, the press release said that role of who originated was very important.  

WhatsApp moves Delhi HC against Centre's new IT rules

WhatsApp moved the Delhi High Court challenging the Centre's recent rules for social media intermediaries that call for the traceability of messages. The Facebook-owned messaging platform reportedly filed the petition on May 25, which was the last day to comply with the guidelines. Invoking the Supreme Court's verdict in the 2017 Justice K S Puttaswamy (Retd.) vs Union Of India case, it has argued that the traceability provision is against the fundamental right to privacy. 

In its petition, WhatsApp has sought direction from the court to declare the aforesaid traceability provision unconstitutional and prevent criminal liability to its employees for non-compliance. Incidentally, the messaging platform's move comes a day after Facebook expressed intent to comply with the provisions of the new IT rules. Mentioning that it will continue to discuss some issues with the government, a Facebook spokesperson stressed that the people can continue to freely and safely express themselves on the platform. Meanwhile, the government's acrimony with Twitter over this matter continues as there is no confirmation yet on whether the microblogging platform has complied with the rules either, even as it grapples with the Delhi Police over the 'toolkit' manipulated media row.

WhatsApp has alleged that the new IT rules violated the fundamental right to freedom of speech & expression and that it even 'chills' lawful speech. Refusing to comply with the new IT guidelines, WhatsApp argued that the citizens wouldn't speak freely fearing traceability and claimed that it was antithetical to end-to-end encryption. It further stated that imposing a requirement to enable the identification of the first originator of information would undermine security protocol. In its petition challenging the new IT rules at Delhi HC, WhatsApp has sought the new guidelines to be declared unconstitutional & illegal and wanted zero liability imposed on it for not complying with the new rules. 

Advertisement

Published May 26th, 2021 at 22:18 IST

Your Voice. Now Direct.

Send us your views, we’ll publish them. This section is moderated.

Advertisement
Advertisement

Trending Quicks

Lok Sabha Election 2024 LIVE: Govinda Joins Eknath Shinde's Shiv Sena
a few seconds ago
Lok Sabha Polls: Nakul Nath Declares Assets Worth Rs 700 Crore
3 minutes ago
BCAS started the continuous exercise of monitoring the time of arrival of baggage at belts of six major airports in January 2024.
3 minutes ago
Government Approves Major Bureaucratic Rejig with Key Appointments | LIVE
5 minutes ago
CM Punk and Vince McMahon
11 minutes ago
File Photo of PM Narendra Modi
16 minutes ago
Bribery
21 minutes ago
Kashmiri Lakes
23 minutes ago
Bollywood actor Govinda
27 minutes ago
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Whatsapp logo