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TechIndia IT Ministry to review platform responses on username feature and CSAM concerns
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India's IT Secretary S. Krishnan announced that the Ministry has received responses from messaging platforms regarding notices about their username features, as well as from Meta concerning child sexual abuse material (CSAM). The government will spend approximately one week reviewing these responses. The username feature, particularly on WhatsApp, has raised concerns about potential misuse for impersonation and scams, though Meta has defended it with PIN safeguards and automatic blocking of excessive messaging. Meanwhile, Zoho Corp.-owned competitor Arattai has disabled its username feature during the review. On CSAM, Meta acknowledged deploying detection technology but noted ongoing challenges with criminals evading detection, following a BBC report about suggestive ads on Instagram directing users to CSAM content.
Source report
Updated - July 13, 2026 02:55 pm IST
The Hindu Bureau
IT Secretary S. Krishnan stated that the Ministry had received responses over the weekend to notices sent to messaging platforms regarding their username feature, as well as Meta's response on child sexual abuse material (CSAM).
Mr. Krishnan said the responses are currently under consideration and indicated that the government would spend approximately one week on the review.
WhatsApp Username Feature Concerns
WhatsApp’s username feature — which allows users to contact others without sharing a phone number — had raised government concerns that it could be used for impersonation and scams.
Meta has pushed back on those concerns, stating that the WhatsApp feature would be rolled out with a PIN safeguard. The company also noted that users who send too many messages to strangers would be automatically blocked, as is already the case.
Industry Response
Arattai, the Zoho Corp.-owned WhatsApp competitor, has disabled its username feature as the review proceeds.
Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM) Issue
On the CSAM issue, Meta said in a blog post that while it has deployed technology to detect people posting CSAM, it is “in a constant battle with criminals who hide among our 3.5 billion users and try to evade our detection.”
The government’s notice and Meta’s response follow a BBC report that found multiple suggestive ads directing users to CSAM content outside of Instagram.
Published - July 13, 2026 02:54 pm IST
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Part of this Story
WhatsApp Launches Username Feature to Hide Phone Numbers, India Raises Concerns