Could WhatsApp’s Username Feature Increase Online Fraud? Centre Reviews Meta’s Reply

WhatsApp, owned by Meta, has responded to the Centre’s notice regarding its proposed ‘Username’ feature, and the government is reviewing the response.

Last week, WhatsApp received a notice from the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) raising concerns about a proposed feature that could increase online fraud and impersonation attacks.

The government directed WhatsApp not to introduce the username feature in India until the talks with officials were satisfactory.

The proposed feature would provide an additional level of anonymity by allowing users to connect and chat on WhatsApp without disclosing their mobile phone numbers.

WhatsApp requested more time to respond to the government’s warning and confirmed it would delay the feature’s launch in India until both sides finished discussions.

The IT Ministry received WhatsApp’s response and is reviewing the company’s submissions.

WhatsApp has not yet issued an official statement addressing the response that was submitted to the government, though.

IT Secretary S Krishnan had stated earlier this week that WhatsApp has till Thursday to respond to the government’s notice.

Speaking on the sidelines of the CII GCC Business Summit in New Delhi, Krishnan added that Telegram and Signal received similar letters regarding their username functions.

Krishnan stated on Thursday, “We will wait for the official response to the notification that we have sent, and then we will take a view depending on what the response is.”

Regarding WhatsApp’s responses, Krishnan stated that they still have time to submit their replies, and the government will examine the issue once it receives the reports.

Earlier, IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw had instructed Ministry officials to summon Meta and seek an explanation regarding the alleged presence of child sexual abuse material in advertisements on Instagram.