Telecom Bill 2023: After Meta, Signal, Proton, Mozilla, 57 other platforms raise concerns

The Telecommunications Bill 2023 was passed in the Rajya Sabha on December 21

After Meta, Signal Foundation, a non-profit that runs the encrypted messaging platform Signal, along with Proton, Mozilla and 87 other platforms raised concerns regarding The Telecommunications Bill 2023 on December 21 citing threat to encryption and privacy stemming from its provisions and has urged the government to withdraw the bill.

The bill was passed in the Rajya Sabha earlier in the day and now awaits the President's approval to become a law.

Earlier in the day, Moneycontrol reported how global tech giant Meta is also concerned that over-the-top applications, for instance, messaging apps such as WhatsApp or Signal, can come under the regulatory ambit of the proposed law, due to the bill's broad definitions.

Signal Foundation, Proton, Tor Project, Mozilla are among the 60 organisations that on December 21 wrote to the Ministry of Communications urging it to withdraw The Telecommunications Bill 2023, citing threats to encryption and privacy.

In the letter addressed to Minister of Communications Ashwini Vaishnaw, the signatories said that the bill is a threat to end-to-end encrypted platforms, as it enhances surveillance without independent oversight. This may even result "in such secure services choosing to not operate in India", the letter said.

"The new draft fails to modify provisions that were criticised in the earlier draft and introduces new ones that deepen the damage. We respectfully call on the government to withdraw the Telecommunications Bill, 2023, and initiate inclusive, sustained consultation on the new draft, to incorporate rights-respecting amendments to protect encryption, privacy and security, and unimpeded access to an open, secure, and free internet," read the letter.

Apart from the Signal Foundation and so on, the signatories also included digital rights group and other organisations such as Access Now, Internet Freedom Foundation, SFLC.in, Internet Society, Freedom House, Digipub and others.