😲 Is WhatsApp in Danger?
The draft telecom bill aims to help us modernise rules around tech. But will it end up killing apps like WhatsApp?
Back in the old days, when the internet had not yet reached our phones and made them smart, texting was complicated.
We only got 100 messages per day, that too after getting an "SMS pack", and you had to carefully ration them.
But then WhatsApp entered our lives and gave us something we never really expected: free unlimited messages.
However, the same WhatsApp that changed our lives and could now be in trouble.
Thanks to the government's draft telecom bill.
🤔 Why is the Government is Introducing A Draft Telecom Bill?
Even after 75 years of independence, we are not truly free from the British.
We still follow laws that were drafted during their rule, like: Indian Telegraph Act 1885, Indian Wireless Telegraphy Act 1933, and The Telegraph Wires, (Unlawful Protection) Act 1950.
Now, these old rules obviously couldn't keep up with all our new tech. So, with 5G now coming out, the government decided to revise these rules and bring them all under one law.
So far, so good, right?
But this bill doesn't just want to govern the telecom operators.It also wants to regulate WhatsApp, Telegram, Signal, Zoom and other such online messaging and calling apps. But why?
🔍 The Need to Drag WhatsApp into This
For quite some time now, telecom service providers like Airtel and Jio have been jealous of WhatsApp and the others.
Because these apps provide the same services but without any hassle of getting a telecom license, paying license fees and so on.
So, for quite some time telecom service providers had been asking the government to make this whole thing fairer and bring over-the-top (OTT) communication services under the same laws as them.
And the government has listened.
But this particular rule and the other rules in the bill could spell a lot of trouble for these apps, especially WhatsApp.
😥 The Trouble for WhatsApp
While you and I love WhatsApp, Meta has mixed feelings about the app.
You see, it bought WhatsApp for $19 billion but it has hardly been able to earn any revenue from the app.
Because it is free.
But just when Meta had begun to monetise WhatsApp, with business accounts and WhatsApp Pay, the government stepped in.
Now, not only will it have to file for a license, which can cost around Rs. 30 lakhs, but also pay a license fee every year (8% of its adjusted gross revenue).
On top of this it will also have to comply with other government demands like:
End end-to-end encryption: Under the new telecom bill the government wants to go through our calls and messages to identify potential threats to national security. But WhatsApp already promises end-to-end encryption and privacy to users. If the bill is passed, it won't be able to do so anymore.
Compulsory KYC: The bill will require all telecom license holders to verify the identity of their users. So, instead of the OTP you now get to log in on WhatsApp, you will probably have to do an Aadhar verification.
Now complying with these rules and finding a workaround for the privacy policy will take up a lot of WhatsApp's bandwidth, making it difficult to focus on monetisation.
Plus, with the data privacy law coming up, Meta will have to store all the KYC data it collects in data centres in India, the whole move could cost Meta a lot.
Remember how in the early days WhatsApp claimed it was only free for one year: Yeah, those days may be coming back.
Plus, with WhatsApp giving Meta a lot of unnecessary trouble with US regulators, it may decide to either sell off WhatsApp or shut it down!
Wait, what trouble?
You see, since Zuckerberg owns the entire Bermuda Triangle of social media: WhatsApp, Instagram, Facebook, regulators feel Meta has a monopoly in this space.
So, they have asked him to sell off both Instagram and WhatsApp, his later acquisitions.
To appease these regulators and to get away with India's regulations, Meta may just do away with WhatsApp.
But before you start mourning over that, let's look at other aspects of the bill that are also problematic.
📜 What Else Does the Bill Hold?
The bill also allows the government to shut down the internet in the interest of public safety.
And while this could be a good way to prevent the spread of misinformation that leads to riots and other violence, it also has the potential to be misused.
India is the internet shut down capital of the world, which is ironically focusing on going digital. This law could pose major problems to our digital dreams.
What's more, it is unclear which messages of ours the government will be able to access and read and how it will store this data. So, this provision raises a lot of eyebrows.
Plus, the regulation of OTT communication has also not gone down well with a lot of experts.
Many experts state that these apps are already regulated under the IT Act. To impose double regulation would slow down innovation.
However, this regulation could also have some benefits.
First, it would bring in extra revenue for our government thanks to the license fees that these OTT companies will have to pay.
Second, the KYC verification of users could put an end to a lot of spam calls, frauds and phishing scams.
But will this regulation alienate platforms like Zoom and WhatsApp? And more importantly, will the bill be able to turn into a law?
⚡In a line: The new telecom bill wants to give the government more control over the sector and help it earn more revenue, but it could instead force out players from the market.
💡Quick question: Will WhatsApp leave its biggest market because of the bill?
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No question of British rule like.....whatsapp has first moving advantage....people will pay to whatsapp nominal fee if asked by govt and so on....