The Communist Party of India (Marxist) on Friday demanded the withdrawal of the new Information Technology Act provisions for intermediaries such as Facebook and Twitter, terming them dangerous and retrograde.
The notification required all intermediary platforms providing messaging services to identify the “first originator” of a message trail and furnish it on demand to either the court or the government, said the CPI (M) Polit Bureau statement.
“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,” it said.
“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,” said the party.
The CPI (M) Polit Bureau also accused the Central government of using the Delhi Police to intimidate Twitter for flagging various BJP leaders’ tweets as “manipulated media”. It condemned the government’s “partisan” use of the Information Technology Ministry and “police raids” on Twitter’s offices, describing them as acts of blatant intimidation.
“Undermining security protocols to provide government access to people's messages is a dangerous and retrograde measure. These strengthen the architecture of a surveillance State violating the right to privacy of citizens,” it said.