Supreme Court dismisses plea to ban WhatsApp

New Delhi: After a public interest litigation (PIL) sought the Supreme Court to issue directions to the Union government to ban the operation and use of social media platform WhatsApp, the top court ditched the plea. The petitioner sought that the platform be banned if it does not comply with the orders of the authorities of the country, PTI reported.

A bench of Justices M M Sundresh and Aravind Kumar said it was not inclined to entertain the plea filed by Kerala resident Omanakuttan KG, a software engineer.

Omanakuttan, in his plea, contended that the messaging platform had refused to comply with the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021.

The PIL alleged that WhatsApp was violating the fundamental rights of the citizens guaranteed under Article 21 of the Constitution and posing a potential threat to national interest and national security.

"If the app was not willing to change its technology and did not cooperate with the government, it should not be allowed to operate in the country. The Centre had banned many websites and mobile apps for acting against the interest of the country," the plea said.

In another news, NatWest Group banned the use of messaging platforms like WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger and Skype on company devices across the UK in a bid to tighten the communication protocols, BBC reported.

According to the report, the UK-based retail and commercial banking company took the decision as part of a broader effort to ensure that employees use only company-approved communication channels for official business matters. This is expected to enhance compliance and accountability within the organisation.