WhatsApp Submits Reply to Government Notice on Username Feature, MeitY Reviews
Meta-owned WhatsApp submitted its written response on the proposed ‘username’ feature to the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) late Thursday evening, a senior official confirmed on Friday.
The Ministry is currently reviewing the company’s response, the official added, without disclosing details of the reply.
On July 1, the government issued a notice to WhatsApp directing it to halt the rollout of the username feature, citing concerns that hiding phone numbers and displaying only usernames could facilitate online fraud, phishing, digital arrest scams, and impersonation attacks. The notice also instructed the platform not to launch the feature until consultations with the government are completed “to the satisfaction of the Government.”
The written response was originally due on July 4. WhatsApp subsequently requested additional time and assured the government that it would not roll out the feature in India until discussions are concluded.
The legal basis for the government’s directive stems from the Information Technology Act, 2000, and the Information Technology Rules, 2021. In its notice, the government classified WhatsApp as an “intermediary” and a “significant social media intermediary” under Section 2(1)(w) of the IT Act, read with relevant rules. A significant social media intermediary is defined as a platform with over 50 lakh registered users in India; WhatsApp has an estimated user base of over 80 crore. The government argued that WhatsApp is thus subject to due diligence and other obligations under the rules.
The legal question of whether the government can veto a feature on a privately owned app remains unclear. The notice asserted that WhatsApp’s status as a significant intermediary gives the government authority to regulate such changes.
Similar notices were sent to Telegram, Signal, and Arattai, which have long offered username features that conceal phone numbers. On Thursday, IT Secretary S. Krishnan said that those platforms have not yet responded, adding, “There is still a little more time, so the replies have not yet been received… we will examine this issue.”
