Why the govt and WhatsApp are at loggerheads over end-to-end encryption

The Centre feels that WhatsApp hasn't done enough to contain the spread of fake news, and wants the social media firm to trace 'malicious' messages to their senders for potential legal action

A piece of tech code that many see as the centerpiece in digital privacy, has become the bone of contention between the Indian government and Facebook's chat platform WhatsApp. The Centre feels that WhatsApp hasn’t done enough to contain the spread of fake news, and wants the social media company to trace ‘malicious’ messages to their senders for potential legal action.

Though the subject is a technical one – WhatsApp has to move some software codes around – it has far-reaching consequences for privacy. Let’s look at the tech part first.

In November 2014, barely months after Facebooj acquired it,