Govt orders Meta to hold WhatsApp's username feature launch, seeks reply in 3 days: 'Cannot go ahead unless...'

The Centre on Wednesday issued a notice to WhatsApp parent Meta, ordering it to press pause on the launch of the messenger's new username feature till consultations are completed.

Meta now has three days to provide a detailed explanation of the new privacy feature that has sparked comparisons with Telegram.

The notice to the tech giant comes amid the government's concerns about how the feature may be misused by malicious actors for fraudulent purposes and impersonation.

"The government, as the statutory authority, will have to satisfy itself that the feature does not pose risks, given the legitimate concerns surrounding it," a source had told PTI.

The source added that the notice to the platform will seek details of the feature, its safeguards, and the company's rollout plans, while law enforcement agencies may also examine the issue.

The source added that the government is currently evaluating the finer details of the feature, its safeguards, and how it will be rolled out among WhatsApp India's user base of more than 500 million.

Law enforcement agencies may also examine the issue, depending on various factors.

The new Telegram-like feature, which will be one of the messenger's biggest overhauls in its history, allows users to connect using usernames as well, instead of just phone numbers.

Though the company has said that this was being done to give users greater privacy, the Centre has expressed some cybersecurity concerns, especially after it had to continuously fact-check claims of NEET-UG re-test papers leaking on Telegram.

This had led to the government imposing a temporary ban on the Russian-origin messaging app at around the June 21 NEET-UG re-exam date, in addition to disabling its message-edit feature over the same period.

In that regard, the Centre has said that any kind of misuse using the username feature, such as creating fake groups or improved impersonation, would lead to regulatory action similar to what it had done in the Telegram case.

This comes amid mounting fear from users and cybersecurity experts that the username feature could be manipulated similar to how it happens on platforms like X and Facebook, where fraudulent handles have names that look a lot like that of reputed pages, often misleading netizens.

"They cannot go ahead unless they can assure and convince," the source added in the report.