Centre to review messaging platforms’ response on notice over username feature
The Indian government is reviewing responses from messaging platforms regarding new username features and concerns over child sexual abuse material (CSAM). While Meta defends its privacy features and safety measures, the government remains concerned about potential impersonation and the spread of illegal content.
Why it matters
This highlights the ongoing tension between tech companies' privacy-focused product updates and government mandates for user safety and regulatory oversight.
IT Secretary S. Krishnan said that responses to notices sent to messaging platforms on their username feature, and to Meta on child sexual abuse material, had both been received by the Ministry over the weekend.
Mr. Krishnan said that those responses are under consideration and indicated that the government would spend around a week on the review.
WhatsApp’s username feature — which allows users to be contacted or to contact others without sharing a phone number — had raised concerns in the government that this feature could be used for impersonation and scams.
Meta has pushed back on those concerns, saying that the WhatsApp feature would be rolled out with a PIN safeguard, and that users who send too many strangers messages would be automatically blocked, as is already the case.
Arattai, the Zoho Corp.-owned WhatsApp competitor, has disabled its username feature as this review gets underway.
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