The government of India has been particularly apprehensive when it comes to social media platforms, and this has extended to WhatsApp now as the platform has introduced a username feature.
After WhatsApp announced the rollout of its Instagram-like username feature the Indian government raised concerns regarding impersonation. The government authorities have instructed WhatsApp to immediately submit a detailed report on this new feature.
The government is reviewing the legality of the WhatsApp’s username feature and asked the social media platforms not to impose it in India till the clearance is given. If it does not meet requirements, it could face a complete ban in India.
Earlier, WhatsApp stated “your phone number is personal and sometimes you want to connect without handing it over, that’s why we’re introducing usernames for WhatsApp. Starting this week, you can reserve a username to use later this year when we launch the feature.”
This feature is a pilot project carried out by WhatsApp where people can handover their username for correspondence and contact instead of giving their phone numbers. But there were serious concerns about the security of this, as impersonation is very much possible.
The Indian authorities have started to question the security arrangements regarding this feature, and WhatsApp will have to explain themselves now.
This post was last modified on 2 July 2026 11:11 am
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