WhatsApp gets a red flag: Obey Indian law or leave the country; this is how the government treasury will be filled

New Delhi: The Supreme Court of India has taken a tough stance against WhatsApp’s parent company, Meta. The Supreme Court told Meta to either comply with Indian laws or leave the country. The Supreme Court further stated that the interests of the citizens are paramount.

Cyber ​​law expert and lawyer Virag Gupta explained what impact the Supreme Court’s strict stance will have on Meta and WhatsApp. The Supreme Court and Meta have clashed before over data issues.

Virag Gupta explained how Meta’s WhatsApp, Instagram, and Facebook together steal data. They use three methods for this. According to Gupta, firstly, these three companies share data among themselves. Secondly, the three companies send data outside the country, and thirdly, there is the CCI case, which stated that the monopoly this company is creating in OTT and advertising is the real problem.

How will data fill the government’s coffers?
According to experts, data business in India is not subject to GST, and if GST is collected, it will fill the government’s treasury, and these companies will come under the purview of Indian law. He also said that illegal data trading should be stopped, and legitimate data trading should be taxed. Legitimate data sharing will reduce cyber fraud.

WhatsApp gave this response a few months ago
A few months ago, WhatsApp made a strong statement in court. WhatsApp said during the hearing that if they were asked to remove end-to-end encryption, they would exit India because there would be no other option left.

When did this WhatsApp case begin?
The real root of this WhatsApp controversy is its privacy policy. For many years, WhatsApp has been arguing that its messages are End-To-End Encrypted, which are decoded only between the sender and the receiver. If a third person wants to read them, they will not be able to do so.

Now, let’s talk about WhatsApp’s new policy, which clearly states that it can share users’ metadata—that is, who they talked to, when, how often, device information, and other technical details—with other Meta companies, especially Facebook and Instagram. The Indian government has a clear stance that the data of Indian users should remain within India’s borders and its use should be governed by Indian guidelines and laws.