The Indian government is not looking at iMessage as a standalone social media platform like WhatsApp or any other application. Earlier, the Indian government had sent a notice to Apple India to get details on how the company is complying with the new social media rules. But as per an Indian Express report, the government has withdrawn its notice because it isn’t considering iMessage as a social media platform anymore.
Apple iMessage Has Over 25 Million Users in India
Anyone aware of the new IT rules for social media platforms will know that it affects all the platforms that have more than 5 million (50 lakh) users. Considering that Apple has 25 million active iMessage users in India, ideally, the app should come under the purview of the new rules. But the reality is, iMessage is exclusively for Apple iPhone users. It is not a free application for anyone in the world to download. The iMessage can only be used by people who own an iPhone. As per the publication’s report, for the Indian government, any application is only a social media platform if it primarily or solely allows interaction between two or more individuals while at the same time allowing them to share, upload, create messages and information. The sole reason that Apple’s iMessage isn’t being regarded as a social media platform because it is not a standalone application that can be downloaded and installed on any device in the world. Thus, the application isn’t being seen as a separate entity from Apple that’s allowing users to communicate with each other. This is the reason why the government, which had initially sent a notice to Apple India, has withdrawn it. Some of the other major applications such as WhatsApp, Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram still need to comply with the rules. As for Twitter, the battle between the government and the micro-blogging platform is still going on.
