Government Tells WhatsApp to Pause Username Rollout in India
The government has directed WhatsApp to pause its username rollout, citing risks of fraud, phishing and digital impersonation.
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The Indian government has asked WhatsApp to pause the India rollout of its username feature until consultations are completed, citing concerns that the tool could make online fraud, phishing, digital arrest scams and impersonation harder to prevent.
The direction was sent to Meta Platforms Inc., the Menlo Park, California-based technology company that owns WhatsApp, in a July 1 notice from the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology.
Meta has been asked to explain the feature and submit supporting documentation within three days.
The ministry has also asked why regulatory action should not be initiated under the Information Technology Act, 2000, the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021, and other applicable laws.
The intervention comes after WhatsApp said it had started allowing users to reserve usernames ahead of a broader launch later this year. The feature is meant to let people connect on WhatsApp without sharing their phone numbers, a major shift for a service that has long been built around mobile-number-based identity.
WhatsApp said on June 29 that usernames would be optional and would be rolled out gradually over the coming months. Users on the latest version of the app can reserve a username by going to Settings, Account and Username, once the option becomes available in their country.
Responding to the government’s concerns, a Meta spokesperson said the feature is not yet live and that the company has introduced safeguards to reduce impersonation risks.
“We’ve announced the option for people to reserve their preferred username on WhatsApp,” the spokesperson said. The company added that usernames for public figures, government entities and verified Meta accounts have been reserved for their legitimate owners, while similar lookalike names have also been blocked to help prevent impersonation.
Last month, authorities temporarily blocked Telegram after raising concerns about privacy features that allow users to communicate without revealing their phone numbers. A report prepared by the Ministry of Home Affairs in June also warned that such features make identity detection more difficult and have been used in cyber fraud.
India is WhatsApp’s largest market, with more than 500 million users.
The standoff adds to a series of regulatory confrontations between the government and major technology platforms over online safety, content moderation and user privacy.
Username-based messaging is already available on Signal, which introduced the feature in 2024, while Telegram has supported usernames for several years.
