Signal may face sanctions from Indian government over non-compliance of new IT rules

For the past several weeks, Twitter and the Indian government are at loggerheads over the former's non-compliance to the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines And Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021.

Now, the Signal Messenger app, which has a substantial user base of more than 50 lakh subscribers in India, will soon face similar brunt from the government.

The IT rules mandate companies such as digital, social media, and messenger app service providers to appoint local Compliance and Grievance officers.

Also, messenger app developers such as Facebook, WhatsApp, and Signal are obligated to submit origin of message details, particularly those deemed to be misinformation, hateful in nature, to the government.

If the Signal failed to abide by the traceability clause of new IT rules, it will face sanctions, reported Hindustan Times citing a government official.

Last month, WhatsApp filed a lawsuit to stall the newly framed IT rules, as it infringes upon user privacy. If the company has to comply with the traceability clause, it will harm the end-to-end encryption feature and have to keep a log of all the messages being shared on the app.

The case is still ongoing but it remains to been seen what the logical end will be this privacy dilemma.

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