WhatsApp Services Shutting Down In India? Check What I&B Minister Said In Rajya Sabha

New Delhi: I&B Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw told the Rajya Sabha last week that WhatsApp and its parent company Meta has not informed the government of any plans to shut down its services in India.

The I&B Minister was responding to questions raised by Congress member Vivek Tankha on whether the messaging app was planning to shut its services in India due to the government's directives to share user details.

Vaishnaw in a written reply to Rajya Sabha said, "Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) has shared that WhatsApp or Meta has not informed the government about any such plans," Vaishnaw told the Rajya Sabha in a written reply.

Vaishnaw said the central government issues directions under Section 69A of the Information Technology Act, 2000 in the interest of the sovereignty or integrity of India, defence of India, security of the state, friendly relations with foreign states or public order or for preventing incitement to the commission of any cognisable offence relating to above in respect of the information on a computer resource.

Earlier this year, WhatsApp had told the Delhi High Court that it will stop functioning in India if it was compelled by the government to break encryption of messages.

WhatsApp and its parent company Meta had challenged the newly amended IT Rules contending that they violate the right to privacy and were unconstitutional.

Meanwhile, the Meta-owned has for the first time revealed its US figures for the WhatsApp service. CEO Mark Zuckerberg has said that WhatsApp has reached 100 million users in the US.

Compared to the US, WhatsApp has with more than 500 million monthly active users in India.

With Agency Inputs