Recently this month, the messaging app WhatsApp updated its terms and conditions for European and Asian countries. These new terms and conditions deprive users of the choice to share certain information and data with the app’s developer, FaceBook. India’s technology ministry has asked the app to change these conditions, as they find the absence of choice an issue for their citizens. The app has agreed to push back the new terms and conditions from February to May, but the Indian government seems to be set on getting rid of them completely. The resistance to these new conditions could be very problematic for FaceBook, as they just invested $5.7 billion dollars into their Indian interest, mostly aimed at WhatsApp use.
The issue of privacy is one that is very important to people, and recently there have been extreme breaches of privacy by social media platforms and even through smartphones. It’s an interesting question to ask, if it’s the responsibility of a government to protect its citizens’ privacy, or if it’s overstepping to control the terms and conditions of a private company. The right to privacy is one that all people deserve, and in today’s age of social media and technology it’s very hard to secure. It’s important for governments to protect the rights of their citizens regardless of the circumstances.
When viewed from a perspective of terms and conditions being like foreign policy, and FaceBook being a global actor, this conflict and its resolution can be explained through realist perspective. FaceBook has personal interest in the continued use of their app in India, whereas India has personal interest in the continued digital privacy of their citizens. India is not willing to move on their stance, forcing FaceBook’s hand to change their policy. India doesn’t have much to lose in discontinuing the use of WhatsApp in their country, as there are other messaging apps on the market. However, FaceBook has a lot of financial interest in the resolution of this conflict, hence their willingness to comply with India’s requests to a certain extent.