WhatsApp under pressure for not complying with India’s regulations
The Facebook company does not have a grievance offer, nor does it have servers in India
Mumbai — India’s top court has asked WhatsApp to respond to a petition that alleges it breaches certain Indian regulations, creating another headache for the Facebook-owned firm already facing pressure in India over fake news. In an order seen by Reuters on Tuesday, India’s supreme court asked the messaging service to respond to the petition, filed by a Delhi-based think-tank called the Centre For Accountability And Systemic Change (CASC), within four weeks. WhatsApp does not comply with the country’s Information Technology (IT) Act, 2000, which mandates "the appointment of [a] grievance officer by all intermediaries," the CASC says in its petition, a copy of which was reviewed by Reuters. "It is also required to have a grievance officer for users in India. Yet, it is being allowed to continue with its payments and other services, without any checks," the petition added. The Indian IT Act mandates intermediaries or carriers of content, such as WhatsApp, to appoint a grievance office...
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