Govt. receives WhatsApp’s reply on notice over ‘username’ feature
The Indian government is reviewing Meta's response regarding a proposed WhatsApp 'username' feature that hides phone numbers. Officials are concerned that the feature could facilitate online fraud and impersonation, leading to regulatory scrutiny of major social media intermediaries.
Why it matters
This highlights the ongoing tension between global tech platforms and national governments regarding user privacy, security, and regulatory compliance.
Meta-owned WhatsApp submitted its written response on its ‘username’ feature to the IT ministry late Thursday evening (July 9, 2026), a senior official said.
The Ministry is reviewing the company’s response, they said on Friday (July 10, 2026).
On July 1, the Centre issued a notice to Meta asking it to stop the rollout of the proposed username feature on WhatsApp. In a notice to the social media platform, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) flagged concerns that hiding phone numbers and only showing usernames may increase the incidence of online fraud, phishing, digital arrest scams and impersonation attacks.
The government had also directed the platform not to launch the feature until consultations on the issue are completed “to the satisfaction of the Government”. A written response to the government’s notice was originally due on July 4.
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