India Demands WhatsApp Explain Username Feature Amid Cybercrime Fears
India's government has given WhatsApp three days to justify its new username feature, citing concerns over increased phishing and impersonation risks.
India's Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) has formally requested WhatsApp to explain why it should not face regulatory action over its newly announced username feature. The government's primary concern is that this feature, which allows users to interact without revealing their phone numbers, could significantly increase the prevalence of cybercrimes such as phishing and impersonation scams.
MeitY has issued a strict three-day deadline for WhatsApp, owned by Meta, to respond to its July 1 letter and has called for a halt to the feature's rollout until governmental approval is secured. WhatsApp had announced on June 29 that users would soon be able to reserve unique usernames, intended to facilitate communication without exposing personal phone numbers to contacts ranging from classmates to professional colleagues.
The government's apprehension stems from the potential for attackers to pose as public authorities, financial institutions, or government departments, thereby exploiting the anonymity offered by usernames. These fears are grounded in India's Information Technology Act 2000 and the associated IT Rules 2021, which provide the legal framework for MeitY's concerns regarding the feature's potential misuse.
However, the Internet Freedom Foundation (IFF) has contested MeitY's stance, suggesting that the department lacks a clear legal basis for halting the rollout. The IFF argues that the invoked legal frameworks are not applicable in this context and views the government's action as a potential instance of regulatory overreach, drawing parallels to a previous attempt in March 2024 to pre-approve AI models.
WhatsApp has countered these concerns by detailing the safety measures implemented to protect users. A spokesperson stated that the username feature is not yet live and will be rolled out gradually. When users receive a message from a new contact via a username, WhatsApp will provide indicators such as whether the account is new, if the sender is a known contact, shared groups, or if the sender is from a different country, allowing users to make informed decisions about responding.
Further safeguards include the reservation of high-profile usernames for legitimate organizations and individuals, and restrictions against registering lookalike derivatives. WhatsApp also emphasized that users still require a phone number to use the platform and that multiple layers of defense against scams have been integrated into the username system. These include limiting the number of new contacts an account can message, blocking repeated attempts to guess usernames, and employing systems to detect and remove common impersonation and abuse patterns.
With WhatsApp boasting over 3 billion global users and India representing its largest market with more than 850 million users, the implications of this feature and the government's scrutiny are significant. WhatsApp-based scams are a known issue globally, and India has previously taken strong measures, including a temporary ban on Telegram amid concerns over exam question leaks, highlighting the government's sensitivity to platform misuse.