HC seeks govt's stand on plea to stay Facebook, WhatsApp call operations

A plea seeking a stay on the operations of social media platforms Facebook and WhatsApp till a decision is taken whether to regulate their call services has prompted the Delhi High Court to seek the government's response on the issue.

The plea for putting on hold the operations of the two social media platforms was moved in a PIL seeking regulation of their call services over the internet.

A bench of Acting Chief Justice Gita Mittal and Justice C Hari Shankar sought to know the central government's stand by October 17 on the application which alleges that these services were often used by terrorists to communicate with ease.

The application has claimed that the encryption of messages and calls made on these platforms were not easy to crack.

The direction came on a plea by V D Moorthy, who has approached the court for regulation of Facebook and Whatsapp's Voice Over Internet Protocol or Internet Telephony services.

He has urged the court to direct the authorities to bring the two social media platforms and other similar applications in India under a regulatory framework just like the telecom service providers and internet service providers.

The petitioner alleged that "unregulated operations of the Facebook and WhatsApp are a threat to national security and a loss to the public exchequer".