WhatsApp's response to Centre's notice on username feature due today, says IT Secretary

New Delhi: Meta-owned WhatsApp's response to the Centre's notice over its proposed 'username' feature is due on Thursday, IT Secretary S Krishnan said.

The government last week issued a notice to Meta, raising concerns that the feature could significantly increase online fraud, phishing, digital arrest scams and impersonation attacks. It also directed the company not to roll out the feature in India until consultations with the government are completed.

Speaking on the sidelines of the CII GCC Business Summit, Krishnan said, "Today is the day when the reply is due," when asked about WhatsApp's response.

The proposed username feature would allow users to communicate on WhatsApp without sharing their phone numbers.

After receiving the notice, WhatsApp sought additional time to submit its response and assured the government that it would not launch the feature in India until discussions with authorities were concluded.

Asked whether Telegram and Signal had responded to similar notices issued by the government over their username features, Krishnan said, "There is still a little more time, so the replies have not yet been received...we will examine this issue."

A team from Meta met officials in the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) last Friday following the government's notice.

In its communication to Meta, the government asked the company to explain why action should not be initiated under the Information Technology Act and the relevant rules, arguing that the proposed feature could increase cybercrime risks. The notice also reminded Meta that WhatsApp, as a significant social media intermediary, is required to comply with due diligence obligations under the IT Act.

Responding to the concerns last week, a WhatsApp spokesperson said the username feature is not yet available and will be introduced gradually later this year.

"To protect against impersonation, we've held the highest-profile names – think public figures, government entities, celebrities, verified Meta accounts – so they can only ever be claimed by their legitimate owners and lookalike derivatives of known names are held as well," the spokesperson said.

The company stressed that users would still need a phone number to create and use a WhatsApp account and said it had built multiple safeguards to prevent fraud.

"Other users need to know the exact username to message you. We will limit how many new people an account can contact, block repeated attempts to guess someone's username key, and have systems to detect and remove activity showing common impersonation and abuse patterns," the spokesperson added.

WhatsApp also said users would receive additional information before responding to messages sent via usernames.

"When the feature becomes available, and someone sends a message for the first time via your username, we will show you if they're a new account, if they're your contact, if you have groups in common, and if they're based in a different country, so you can decide whether to respond," the company said.

The government has also issued notices to Telegram and Signal, seeking details on how their existing username features address risks related to fraud and impersonation.

The scrutiny comes amid broader regulatory action against major messaging platforms. While the government recently issued a notice to Meta over child sexual abuse material appearing in Instagram advertisements, Telegram has been directed to curb the widespread sharing of pirated films, OTT content and other copyrighted audio-visual material on its platform.

(PTI)