Reliance Jio, Airtel and Vodafone Idea to government: Not regulating WhatsApp, Telegram, Google Meet and others can be a ‘national security threat’

The Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) — whose members include Reliance Jio, Airtel and Vodafone Idea — has called upon the government to implement traceability and user privacy regulations on popular over-the-top (OTT) communication services such as WhatsApp, Telegram, and Google Meet. The industry body argues that these apps provide similar services to traditional telecom operators, using the same internet infrastructure, and should therefore be subject to the same rules.