TNIE online desk
The Centre has issued an urgent notice to Meta, putting an immediate brake on WhatsApp's upcoming "Username" feature due to severe risks of impersonation and cyber fraud.
Authorities are deeply concerned that usernames will trigger a massive spike in phishing, identity theft, and "digital arrest" scams by allowing bad actors to easily target India's 500 million+ users.
The Centre has officially ordered Meta not to roll out the feature until a thorough review is completed to the government's total satisfaction. Meta has just three days to submit a detailed defense.
The notice warns Meta of its strict due diligence obligations under India's IT Act and Rules, questioning whether the platform could be held liable for aiding or abetting cybercrimes.
Tech leaders and experts, including Paytm founder Vijay Shekhar Sharma, had heavily criticized the feature, warning that lookalike handles would inevitably be exploited to spoof banks and officials.
Defending the feature, Meta states it is not yet live. They claim high-profile names, government handles, and lookalikes are already blocked from being claimed by unauthorized users.
Meta adds that the feature requires exact matches to search, and safety screens will explicitly warn users if a first-time username message is coming from a brand-new account or a foreign country.
To further curb abuse, Meta plans to strictly limit how many new people an account can contact daily and will deploy automated systems to block repeated, rapid attempts at guessing someone's username.
With India being WhatsApp’s largest market, government sources indicate they are now auditing legal frameworks to determine if the feature can be permanently blocked if public safety is compromised.