The Supreme Court on friday dismissed the petition which sought to frame rules for suspending or blocking social media accounts across the country. The petitioners wanted social media companies to maintain a clear process, transparency, and balance in suspending or blocking accounts. A bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta, under Article 32, said that access to WhatsApp cannot be called a fundamental right. The bench also said that a native messaging app has recently been launched, which the petitioners can use. The court also suggested that if they wish, the petitioners can take this matter to the lower court as well. Downloads of indigenous app Arattai increased by up to 100 times The Supreme Court had actually mentioned Zoho company’s new messaging app ‘Arattai’. Downloads of this app increased 100-fold in September. By October 3, it had been downloaded 7.5 million times. Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan and industrialist Anand Mahindra have also started using this app. Learn about Arattai in QA… 1. When was the Arattai app launched The Arattai app was developed by Zoho Corporation. It was launched in 2021. Arattai means ‘casual chat’ in Tamil. In this, you can send text messages, photos, videos, and documents. It also offers features like voice and video calling, story features, and channel management. 2. Who created Arattai Arattai has been developed by Zoho Corporation, a company headquartered in Chennai. This company was started in 1996 by Sridhar Vembu and Tony Thomas. Today, it is providing services to more than 130 million users in 150 countries around the world. Zoho has more than 55 business applications. These include email, CRM, HR, accounting, and project management tools. 3. Why did the app suddenly gain hype People are suddenly downloading this app due to its ‘Made in India’ tag, privacy-friendly design, and open support from the government. Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan also appealed to use Arattai on social media X. 4 . On which phones will this app run The special thing about Arattai is that it comes with a low-bandwidth consumption feature. This means it also works in areas where the internet connection is weak or intermittent. This app will also run easily on low-cost smartphones. 5. What are the features? Arattai has all the features that a modern messaging app should have… What makes this app stand out is its focus on privacy. Zoho has stated that it will not use user data for business or profit. 6. Can it replace WhatsApp Although Arattai has many features like WhatsApp, it is not yet in a position to fully compete. The biggest drawback is the lack of end-to-end encryption (E2EE) for messages, because on WhatsApp, your messages can only be read by the sender and receiver.
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