“In discussions on misinformation, we generally focus on what the government and platforms should do, when in fact it is a people problem, as much as it is a tech problem. People generally don’t have the agency to act on some of these problems. So how do you empower everyday people to actually respond to misinformation is the bigger question,” a speaker said during MediaNama’s workshop on identifying challenges to Encryption in India. Traceability emerged as perhaps the biggest challenge to encryption, but several speakers questioned its effectiveness in curbing misinformation. This workshop was held with support from the Internet Society (Asia Pacific Office), and was under the Chatham House rule; the quotes have thus not been attributed. Challenges to encryption Traceability of originator: Traceability emerged as the single biggest challenge to encryption, as it has been a constant demand from the government and other law enforcement agencies to address not just misinformation, but issues of “national security” or child sexual abuse material, several speakers concurred. “The concept of the government with respect to traceability seems nebulous as it sees some motivated actors who are hell-bent on spreading misinformation, and wants to trace them,” a speaker noted. Draft intermediary liability rules have fairly stringent traceability provisions which can potentially lead to breaking of encryption, a speaker said. What the draft intermediary liability rules say: The Intermediary Guidelines Rules govern platforms and their behaviour under the IT Act 2000. The proposed amendments by the IT Ministry seek to place larger responsibility…
