The content filtering requirements in India’s proposed intermediary guidelines to curb online misinformation and illegal content, will “put the security of the Internet and its users, and the future of a digital India at greater risk,” the Internet Society (ISOC) said in an open letter to India’s IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad. The letter, which has 27 signatories, said that making intermediaries liable for monitoring communications “would limit the use of end-to-end encryption and encourage others to weaken existing security measures”. ISOC has also urged the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) “reconsider” the current proposed amendments and protect India’s Internet economy and users, by supporting the use of end-to-end encryption. Traceability requirement will weaken everyone’s security: End-to-end encrypted communication platforms, such as WhatsApp and Signal, cannot “provide the level of monitoring required in the proposed amendments”. Under the current proposed amendments to the rules, intermediaries must enable tracing of the originator of the information on their platform. "Whether it’s through putting a “backdoor” in an encryption protocol, storing cryptographic keys in escrow, adding silent users to group messages, or some other method, there is no way to create “exceptional access” for some without weakening the security of the system for all.” — ISOC in the open letter. Apart from protecting people and the economy on the Internet, encryption also secures web browsing, online banking, and critical public services like e-government services, electricity, hospitals and transportation, the letter said. It added that more than 400 million people in India…
