India has widened its scrutiny of messaging apps by issuing notices to Telegram and Signal over username-based features, escalating a regulatory push that began with WhatsApp and now reaches some of the world’s most widely used encrypted and privacy-focused communication platforms.
India issued notices to Telegram and Signal asking them to explain safeguards around features that allow users to post messages without revealing their phone numbers.
Government Seeks Safety Reports From Telegram and Signal
The notices ask the two platforms to explain how they prevent misuse when users can interact without showing phone numbers.
Reuters reported that Telegram and Signal were asked to detail how they protect users from impersonation and misuse enabled by features that let people interact without revealing phone numbers.
The concern is not identical across the two apps.
NDTV reported that Telegram already has the username feature, while Signal has the feature but keeps it optional. That distinction matters because the government is not only questioning a future rollout but also examining features already available to Indian users.
Fraud and Digital Arrest Concerns Drive the Move
India’s core concern is that usernames can make it harder to identify people behind scams. India says anonymity granted by usernames could increase online fraud, phishing, digital arrest scams and impersonation attacks.
The same privacy design that protects users from exposing their phone numbers can also worry regulators. For ordinary users, usernames may reduce unwanted contact and limit the spread of personal phone numbers. For law enforcement, however, the same feature could make scams, impersonation and cross-platform abuse harder to trace quickly.
WhatsApp Notice Set the Stage
The Telegram and Signal notices follow India’s warning to WhatsApp. India’s IT ministry directed WhatsApp to freeze the rollout of its planned username feature and justify it within three days or face regulatory action.
Meta has argued that safeguards are already in place. WhatsApp said it has multiple layers of defence, including withholding high-profile names linked to public figures, government entities and celebrities so they can be claimed by legitimate owners. WhatsApp systems would reveal common impersonation and abuse patterns, limit how many new people an account can contact, and block attempts to guess someone’s username.
Wider Policing of Online Platforms
The notices are part of a broader tightening of India’s approach to online platforms. The notices mark a further escalation of India’s policing of online platforms, from temporarily blocking Telegram last month to vetting individual product features across multiple services. Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government has repeatedly clashed with global tech platforms, including Elon Musk’s X over content-takedown orders.
The pressure is already influencing other Indian messaging services. Zoho co-founder and chief scientist Sridhar Vembu said on X that Arattai would disable the user name-based account feature to comply with the regulatory change.
Digital Rights Group Warns of Overreach
The crackdown has drawn pushback from civil society. The Internet Freedom Foundation called on the IT ministry to withdraw all three notices and said the notice to Signal, an encrypted messenger used by journalists and activists, struck directly at protected speech.
The debate now turns on whether usernames are mainly a privacy tool or a regulatory risk. India sees them as a possible shield for fraudsters and impersonators. Messaging platforms and digital rights advocates are likely to argue that hiding phone numbers can protect users from harassment, doxxing and unwanted exposure. The outcome could shape how privacy features are designed, launched and regulated in India’s enormous messaging market.
