The Supreme Court has asked WhatsApp and other digital intermediaries to spell out the measures they propose to undertake to prevent digital arrest scams and related cybercrimes, directing them to submit their proposals to the Indian Cybercrime Coordination Centre (I4C) as well.

In an order uploaded on November 10 following a hearing on October 29, a bench headed by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant, and comprising Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana, directed WhatsApp LLC, a Meta company, and other concerned intermediaries to apprise it of their proposed preventive measures.

Appearing for WhatsApp, senior advocate Kapil Sibal told the bench that the platform had already taken preventive measures, including action against 9,400 accounts allegedly linked to digital arrest scams. He also informed the court that WhatsApp was developing software to identify suspicious accounts and alert users.

Sibal said WhatsApp would file an affidavit detailing the steps undertaken by the platform.

The matter, titled In Re: Victims of Digital Arrest Related to Forged Documents, has been listed for further consideration on November 23.

The directions to digital intermediaries come alongside the Supreme Court's broader examination of how financial institutions can be held accountable for digital arrest scams and other cyber frauds.

In its October 29 order, the bench reiterated that the regulatory measures proposed by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) must include provisions requiring financial institutions to compensate victims where investigations establish that fraud occurred because the institution failed to exercise due diligence.

The compensation, the court said, should not be less than the amount lost by the customer.

Source link