Meta-owned WhatsApp has submitted its response to the Indian government’s notice regarding its proposed ‘username’ feature. The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) had raised worries that the feature might lead to more online fraud and scams. The government had instructed WhatsApp not to introduce the feature in India until further discussions were held.
The ‘username’ feature would enable users to interact on WhatsApp without sharing their phone numbers, enhancing privacy. WhatsApp requested more time to address the government’s concerns and pledged not to launch the feature until the matter was resolved. The IT Ministry is now reviewing WhatsApp’s response to the notice.
IT Secretary S. Krishnan mentioned that similar notices were sent to Telegram and Signal regarding their username features. The government is waiting for responses from these platforms before making any decisions. Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw had also directed officials to question Meta about alleged child sexual abuse material in Instagram ads.
