[Marxistindia] Rescind Latest Dangerous and Retrograde IT Act Rules

[news from the cpi(m)]

May 28, 2021


Press Statement

The Polit Bureau of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) has issued  
the following statement:


Rescind Latest Dangerous and Retrograde IT Act Rules


The government has recently modified the rules concerning the safe  
harbour provisions in the IT Act for intermediaries such as Facebook  
and Twitter vide its notification dated February 25, 2021. This is to  
come into operation from today, 28th May 2021. The notification  
requires all intermediary platforms providing messaging services to  
identify the “first originator” of a message trail and furnish this on  
demand to either the Court or the Government.

Facebook/WhatsApp has pointed out that this means breaking the  
security of the existing messaging protocol, and therefore of all  
those who use WhatsApp. This has been endorsed by technical experts.  
Weakening security protocols violate user privacy and increase  
vulnerability to hacking for criminal purposes as well.

Facebook, in tune with it’s observations now must revisit and withdraw  
its weakening the security of WhatsApp in its Business Applications.  
In India, Facebook wants to access WhatsApp data; while in the  
European Union it complies with the EU’s directive on user privacy and  
not provide such access.

The Government of India is using the Delhi Police to intimidate  
Twitter for flagging various BJP leaders Tweets as manipulated media.  
The CPI(M) condemns the BJP government’s partisan use of the IT  
Ministry and the police raids on Twitter’s offices as acts of blatant  
intimidation.

Undermining  security protocols to provide government access to  
peoples messages is a dangerous and retrograde measure. These  
strengthen the architecture of a surveillance State violating the  
right to privacy of citizens. The Polit Bureau of the CPI(M) demands  
the withdrawal of these provisions.


For CPI(M) Central Committee Office