The government has decided to temporarily ban the username feature on the messaging platform WhatsApp. Following this, it is anticipated that the government will also take action against the social media platforms Telegram and Signal. In fact, the username feature already exists on both platforms. Now, the Ministry of Information Technology has sent notices to both platforms, seeking responses regarding this feature.

The government has now begun to question how the username feature protects a user's true identity. Furthermore, it wants to know whether someone can create a fake account using another user's name to defraud people. Officials have stated that the rules are the same for all social media platforms. For this reason, notices have now been sent to Telegram and Signal.

WhatsApp username feature banned for some time
The company had introduced the username feature to strengthen user privacy and security. Actually, this feature was to be launched by the end of this year. The company had released this feature just now so that users can save their usernames. However, now the government has objected to it and has decided to ban this feature for some time. The government has also sent a notice to Meta for not rolling out the username feature and has asked for a reply in this regard within three days. Keeping in mind the incidents of fraud and cybercrime, the government has decided to ban this feature.

Responding to this issue, WhatsApp stated that this feature is no longer being rolled out and that the company has added several security measures. Now, only users can reserve their usernames with this feature. It cannot be used for any other purpose.

The government expressed concern

In a notice sent to WhatsApp, the government stated that this feature could significantly increase incidents of online fraud, phishing, digital arrests, and identity theft. The government also expressed concern that this feature could be misused by people to reserve usernames such as those of individuals,  government entities, financial institutions, and government agencies. This could make it difficult to distinguish between real and fake accounts.

 PC:Rajasthan Khabre