Digital rights organisation Internet Freedom Foundation (IFF) on Thursday questioned the legal basis of the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology’s (MeitY) reported direction to WhatsApp to hold back the rollout of its proposed usernames feature in India, saying the move raises concerns over executive overreach and users’ digital rights.
On Thursday MeitY asked Meta-owned WhatsApp not to introduce the feature in India until further consultations are completed and has sought a detailed explanation within three days on how the system will work and prevent misuse.
In a notice issued to WhatsApp’s Chief Compliance Officer, the ministry said it had taken note of the company’s announcement that users would soon be able to reserve unique usernames and eventually initiate conversations without sharing their mobile phone numbers.
Reacting to the development, IFF said no provision of the Information Technology Act, 2000, empowers MeitY to approve or prohibit a platform’s product features before they are launched.
The organisation said Section 79 of the IT Act only provides safe harbour protection to intermediaries that comply with due diligence requirements, while Sections 66C and 66D deal with offences relating to identity theft and impersonation, and do not authorise restrictions on the development of lawful technology.
IFF further said the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021, including Rules 3 and 4, prescribe due diligence obligations for intermediaries but do not create a regulatory approval or licensing framework for software features.
The organisation also noted that Section 69A of the IT Act, which empowers the government to block access to specific online content, does not extend to regulating the design or rollout of digital products. It recalled MeitY’s 2024 advisory asking artificial intelligence companies to seek government approval before releasing certain AI models, which was subsequently withdrawn following criticism.
Responding to the reports, a WhatsApp spokesperson said the usernames feature has not yet gone live and will be introduced gradually later this year.
“Users will still require a phone number to use WhatsApp and usernames are designed to add another layer of privacy rather than replace existing account verification,” the spokesperson said.
The company said usernames of public figures, government entities, celebrities and verified Meta accounts will be reserved to prevent impersonation, while lookalike variants will also be blocked.
WhatsApp added that it has built multiple safeguards into the feature, including limits on the number of new users an account can contact, protections against repeated attempts to guess usernames, and systems to detect impersonation and abusive behaviour.
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