JAKARTA - The Indian government has sent a notification to US technology company Meta, asking the company not to launch a new WhatsApp username feature in India.
According to a report by the Press Trust of India, citing a source, the authorities asked Meta to provide a detailed explanation of the feature within three days and directed the company not to launch it until consultations on the issue were completed.
According to the report, officials warned that the feature could increase the risk of online fraud, phishing, digital capture fraud, and identity impersonation attacks on messaging platforms.
The government also asked Meta to explain why no action should be taken against WhatsApp under the Indian Information Technology Act and related regulations on features that are considered to facilitate cybercrime.
The new feature will allow WhatsApp users to connect using a username instead of sharing their phone number.
The feature, which will be introduced gradually over the next few months, allows users to order unique usernames through the WhatsApp mobile app.
Once activated, users will be able to exchange usernames instead of phone numbers when starting a conversation.
The company said it was also introducing measures to prevent identity fraud.
The messaging platform has more than 3 billion users worldwide.
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