WhatsApp to pause processing law-enforcement requests for user data in Hong Kong

Facebook owned WhatsApp said that it was in consultations with human rights experts over allowing the law enforcement agencies accessing people's data.

WhatsApp last week kicked off its very first global brand campaign in India by launching two sixty-seconds long ads. (REUTERS)

Facebook Inc's WhatsApp messaging service said on Monday it had "paused" processing law enforcement requests for user data in Hong Kong.

WhatsApp is "pausing" such reviews "pending further assessment of the impact of the National Security Law, including formal human rights due diligence and consultations with human rights experts," a spokesperson said in a statement.

Separately, WhatsApp last week kicked off its very first global brand campaign in India by launching two sixty-seconds long videos that have been directed by English Vinglish director Gauri Shinde. The ad campaign titled "It's Between You” talks about how people in the country communicate using WhatsApp.

“We communicate in different ways with different people, and that is the very essence of our personal connections. What you say and the ability to be yourself comes from the assurance of privacy…The conversations you have, the jokes you tell and the memories you relive belong to you and deserve to stay between you,” Avinash Pant, Director - Marketing at Facebook India said in a statement.

Notably, this comes just days after WhatsApp introduced a bunch of new features including dark mode in WhatsApp Web and animated stickers, QR codes and video call improvements in the company's Android and iOS based apps.

(With Reuters inputs)