India has ordered Meta-owned WhatsApp to pause the rollout of its planned username feature, demanding an explanation within three days as officials warn that hiding phone numbers could increase online fraud, phishing and impersonation.
India asked WhatsApp to justify the implementation of its planned usernames feature and freeze the rollout in its biggest market pending government consultations.
India Gives WhatsApp Three Days to Respond
The government’s July 1 letter marks a sharp intervention in one of WhatsApp’s most important product updates.
Reuters reported that the letter gave WhatsApp three days to respond and barred the rollout until consultations with the Indian government are completed.
The feature would let users reserve unique usernames and eventually message others without sharing phone numbers.
BBC reported that WhatsApp’s username feature is meant to let people chat without swapping phone numbers, with users able to reserve a username through account or profile settings once the option becomes available.
Fraud, Phishing and Impersonation Concerns
India’s main concern is that usernames could make online abuse harder to trace.
The government letter said the feature could materially increase online fraud, phishing and impersonation attacks by allowing bad actors to contact victims without disclosing their phone numbers.
The government has raised similar concerns with other messaging platforms. The move escalates India’s crackdown on messaging anonymity, which began with Telegram and was partly driven by concerns that number-hiding tools make it harder to identify users.
India is also not a small test market for WhatsApp. India is WhatsApp’s biggest market, with more than 500 million users. That scale makes any product change involving identity, discoverability and contact controls politically sensitive.
WhatsApp Says the Feature Has Safeguards
WhatsApp is presenting usernames as a privacy feature, not an anonymity loophole.
WhatsApp Head of Product Alice Newton-Rex said the feature is meant to “give users control over how they choose to show up” on the app.
The company has also tried to reassure regulators and users. WhatsApp spokesperson said the usernames feature is not yet live, will roll out slowly later this year, and will still require users to register with a phone number. WhatsApp said senders must know a person’s exact username to message them and that it built “multiple layers of defense against scams,” including contact limits and blocks on repeated username-guessing attempts.
Username Rules and Public Figure Protections
The feature is expected to include restrictions meant to reduce impersonation. Usernames can be up to 35 characters long and that certain high-profile names, including those linked to well-known public figures and celebrities, will be protected to stop others from claiming them.
The rollout will also be gradual. Username reservation will be available through the mobile app once the feature appears, but not initially on WhatsApp Web or the desktop app. Creators, businesses and organizations may be able to claim usernames they already use on Instagram or Facebook for consistency across Meta platforms.
Privacy Feature or Regulatory Risk?
The standoff shows the tension between privacy and accountability in large messaging platforms. For users, usernames could reduce the need to share phone numbers with strangers, group members or businesses. For regulators, the same change could make impersonation and phishing harder to police.
The legal pressure is serious. India’s letter cited the country’s IT law, under which platforms can lose liability protection for user content if they fail to follow government due-diligence rules.
Digital rights group Internet Freedom Foundation said the WhatsApp directive had no clear legal footing and called it an attempt by the government to decide “what a company may build and ship”.
India’s order now leaves WhatsApp balancing two risks: delaying a long-awaited privacy feature in its largest market, or pushing forward and facing possible regulatory action.
