Kerala Police takes WhatsApp to court with a contempt notice

The Kerala police have served WhatsApp with a contempt notice for refusing to furnish information on a defamation case, in what may be considered the first instance of this type. A Kilimanoor, Kerala, resident filed a complaint with the cyber police, claiming that offensive content had been shared about her on the social media platform.

Kerala police responded to the complaint by requesting WhatsApp provide the identity of the original poster of the posts. However, the tech giant turned down the request, citing the end-to-end encryption policy. Taking the union government’s IT Amendment Rules, 2023 into account, the police sent a fresh notice to the Chief of WhatsApp in India along with an order from the additional chief judicial magistrate.

The Information Technology (IT) Act of 2000's Section 79 grants social media platforms and their intermediaries legal protection, which has been recently amended to revoke that protection. This implies that if WhatsApp representatives refuse to give the information requested by the cyber police, they may possibly face arrest.

With the aid of social media, the Kerala police have recently increased their efforts to combat fraud and other crimes. In September 2023, a WhatsApp helpline was introduced to assist victims of loan app scams to file complaints. In an effort to stop threats and extortion, which includes distributing explicit content online, the State Police Media Centre established a helpline in October.