Tamil Nadu pings Supreme Court to keep social media case alive

CHENNAI: The Tamil Nadu government has requested the Supreme Court to permit the Madras High Court to continue hearing and decide on a case related to social media platforms like WhatsApp sharing information with the state on the origin of messages on its encrypted platform.

In its response to the apex court against a transfer petition sought by Facebook, WhatsApp’s owner, from the Madras High court, the state said the social networking platform cannot use privacy of netizens as a “red herring,” considering its own business model rests in the “use and commercialisation of users’ data, which in turn is shared with businesses and political parties for targeted advertising,” in an apparent reference to Facebook’s alleged involvement in the Cambridge Analytica scandal.