TNI Bureau:  The Supreme Court ruled that messages shared on social media platforms are not admissible in court and that the author of WhatsApp messages cannot be identified, particularly in business partnerships regulated by agreements.

Chief Justice N V Ramana and Justices A S Bopanna and Hrishikesh Roy inquired if WhatsApp communications had any evidentiary value these days. They went on to say that on social media, anything can be created and deleted, and WhatsApp communications have no value.

Meanwhile, in the midst of a ongoing dispute with the government over its privacy policy, WhatsApp notified the Delhi High Court on Friday that it has chosen to “temporarily put its privacy policy on hold” until the Data Protection Bill takes effect.

The Centre and WhatsApp have been at variance over a new privacy policy that enables WhatsApp to utilise some of its “business conversations” housed on Facebook for advertising purposes.