India has directed Meta-owned WhatsApp to suspend the rollout of its planned username feature in the country until further consultations are completed, citing concerns over fraud, impersonation and traceability.
According to a government notice reviewed by Reuters, India’s Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) has asked Meta to explain within three days why regulatory action should not be initiated over the feature and has instructed the company not to launch it in India until consultations are concluded.
The planned feature would allow users to communicate using unique usernames instead of sharing their phone numbers, offering an additional layer of privacy. However, Indian authorities have raised concerns that it could be misused for impersonation, phishing, digital fraud and other online scams.
WhatsApp has said the feature includes safeguards, including reserving usernames for public figures and government entities, preventing lookalike usernames and limiting unsolicited contact attempts. The company has also said the feature is not yet live.
India is one of WhatsApp’s largest markets, with hundreds of millions of users, making the country’s decision significant for the global rollout of the new feature. (Newswire)