{"id":23543,"date":"2026-07-02T08:30:14","date_gmt":"2026-07-02T05:30:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ukrmedia.news\/?p=23543"},"modified":"2026-07-02T08:30:14","modified_gmt":"2026-07-02T05:30:14","slug":"indiya-zaboronila-whatsapp-imen-korystuvachiv","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ukrmedia.news\/en\/science-tech\/indiya-zaboronila-whatsapp-imen-korystuvachiv\/","title":{"rendered":"India is demanding that WhatsApp suspend the roll-out of usernames"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"news-lead\">The Indian government has ordered WhatsApp to suspend the roll-out of its new username feature due to concerns about a rise in fraud and phishing. Meta has three days to explain the new feature.<\/p>\n<div class=\"news-summary-box\">\n<div class=\"summary-title\">Briefly about the main points<\/div>\n<ul>\n<li>India has halted the roll-out of the username feature on WhatsApp.<\/li>\n<li>The authorities are demanding an explanation from Meta regarding the new feature.<\/li>\n<li>This feature may make it more difficult to identify attackers.<\/li>\n<li>India is WhatsApp\u2019s largest market, with 500 million users.<\/li>\n<li>This situation reflects the increasing regulation of digital platforms.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<h2>India blocks the launch of a new WhatsApp feature<\/h2>\n<p>The Indian Government has ordered <a href=\"https:\/\/ukrmedia.news\/science-tech\/instagram-facebook-whatsapp-platni-pidpysky\/\">WhatsApp<\/a> to suspend the roll-out of a new feature using usernames and to provide an official explanation of how it works. A letter to this effect from the country\u2019s Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, dated 1 July, has been seen by Reuters. The document requires Meta to explain how the new feature works within three days and not to launch it in India until consultations with the authorities have been completed.<\/p>\n<h2>Why did the Indian authorities oppose this?<\/h2>\n<p>The main cause for concern is the ability to communicate without revealing one\u2019s phone number. In the government\u2019s view, such a feature could make it significantly more difficult to identify perpetrators. The Ministry of Information Technology believes that the use of usernames could contribute to an increase in online fraud, phishing attacks, so-called \u00abdigital arrest\u00bb schemes, and fraudsters impersonating other people. Officials estimate that hiding one\u2019s phone number could create additional risks for users.<\/p>\n<h2>Meta has responded to the allegations<\/h2>\n<p>\u0423 <a href=\"https:\/\/ukrmedia.news\/science-tech\/meta-imunitet-pozovy-dity-sotsmerezhi\/\">Meta<\/a> They stated that the feature is not yet available to users, although the company had previously announced a phased global roll-out. According to a company spokesperson, users will be able to reserve their preferred usernames, and to protect against impersonation, Meta has already reserved usernames for government bodies, public figures and verified accounts. The company emphasises that the new feature is designed to enhance privacy, as it will allow users to communicate without having to provide a phone number.<\/p>\n<h2>Telegram has already come under similar pressure<\/h2>\n<p>This is not the first time India has tightened its control over messaging platforms. Last month, the authorities temporarily blocked Telegram, also expressing concerns about its anonymous messaging features. Furthermore, in June, India\u2019s Ministry of Home Affairs produced a report stating that such privacy tools make it difficult to identify cybercriminals and could be used for financial fraud. These latest moves signal a tightening of state control over digital platforms in the country. The Indian authorities have previously clashed with social media platform X on several occasions over demands to remove content.<\/p>\n<h2>Why it matters<\/h2>\n<p>India is WhatsApp\u2019s largest market in the world \u2014 the messaging app is used by over 500 million people. If Meta agrees to postpone or modify the launch of the feature, this could affect its global roll-out. At the same time, the situation highlights growing tensions between tech companies and governments seeking to tighten their control over online communications.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>\u0423\u0440\u044f\u0434 \u0406\u043d\u0434\u0456\u0457 \u043d\u0430\u043a\u0430\u0437\u0430\u0432 WhatsApp \u043f\u0440\u0438\u0437\u0443\u043f\u0438\u043d\u0438\u0442\u0438 \u0437\u0430\u043f\u0443\u0441\u043a \u043d\u043e\u0432\u043e\u0457 \u0444\u0443\u043d\u043a\u0446\u0456\u0457 \u0456\u043c\u0435\u043d \u043a\u043e\u0440\u0438\u0441\u0442\u0443\u0432\u0430\u0447\u0456\u0432 \u0447\u0435\u0440\u0435\u0437 \u043f\u043e\u0431\u043e\u044e\u0432\u0430\u043d\u043d\u044f \u0449\u043e\u0434\u043e \u0437\u0440\u043e\u0441\u0442\u0430\u043d\u043d\u044f \u0448\u0430\u0445\u0440\u0430\u0439\u0441\u0442\u0432\u0430 \u0442\u0430 \u0444\u0456\u0448\u0438\u043d\u0433\u0443. Meta \u043c\u0430\u0454 \u0442\u0440\u0438 \u0434\u043d\u0456 \u043d\u0430 \u043f\u043e\u044f\u0441\u043d\u0435\u043d\u043d\u044f \u043d\u043e\u0432\u043e\u0432\u0432\u0435\u0434\u0435\u043d\u043d\u044f. \u041a\u043e\u0440\u043e\u0442\u043a\u043e \u043f\u0440\u043e \u0433\u043e\u043b\u043e\u0432\u043d\u0435 \u0406\u043d\u0434\u0456\u044f \u0437\u0443\u043f\u0438\u043d\u0438\u043b\u0430 \u0437\u0430\u043f\u0443\u0441\u043a \u0444\u0443\u043d\u043a\u0446\u0456\u0457 \u0456\u043c\u0435\u043d \u043a\u043e\u0440\u0438\u0441\u0442\u0443\u0432\u0430\u0447\u0456\u0432 \u0443 WhatsApp. \u0412\u043b\u0430\u0434\u0430 \u0432\u0438\u043c\u0430\u0433\u0430\u0454 \u043f\u043e\u044f\u0441\u043d\u0435\u043d\u044c \u0432\u0456\u0434 Meta \u0449\u043e\u0434\u043e \u043d\u043e\u0432\u043e\u0432\u0432\u0435\u0434\u0435\u043d\u043d\u044f. \u0424\u0443\u043d\u043a\u0446\u0456\u044f \u043c\u043e\u0436\u0435 \u0443\u0441\u043a\u043b\u0430\u0434\u043d\u0438\u0442\u0438 \u0456\u0434\u0435\u043d\u0442\u0438\u0444\u0456\u043a\u0430\u0446\u0456\u044e \u0437\u043b\u043e\u0432\u043c\u0438\u0441\u043d\u0438\u043a\u0456\u0432. \u0406\u043d\u0434\u0456\u044f \u0454 \u043d\u0430\u0439\u0431\u0456\u043b\u044c\u0448\u0438\u043c \u0440\u0438\u043d\u043a\u043e\u043c WhatsApp \u0437 500 \u043c\u043b\u043d [\u2026]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":207433404,"featured_media":23542,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rank_math_description":"\u0423\u0440\u044f\u0434 \u0406\u043d\u0434\u0456\u0457 \u043d\u0430\u043a\u0430\u0437\u0430\u0432 WhatsApp \u043f\u0440\u0438\u0437\u0443\u043f\u0438\u043d\u0438\u0442\u0438 \u0437\u0430\u043f\u0443\u0441\u043a \u043d\u043e\u0432\u043e\u0457 \u0444\u0443\u043d\u043a\u0446\u0456\u0457 \u0456\u043c\u0435\u043d \u043a\u043e\u0440\u0438\u0441\u0442\u0443\u0432\u0430\u0447\u0456\u0432 \u0447\u0435\u0440\u0435\u0437 \u0440\u0438\u0437\u0438\u043a\u0438 \u0448\u0430\u0445\u0440\u0430\u0439\u0441\u0442\u0432\u0430 \u0442\u0430 \u0444\u0456\u0448\u0438\u043d\u0433\u0443.","rank_math_title":"\u0406\u043d\u0434\u0456\u044f \u0437\u0430\u0431\u043e\u0440\u043e\u043d\u0438\u043b\u0430 WhatsApp \u0437\u0430\u043f\u0443\u0441\u043a\u0430\u0442\u0438 \u043d\u043e\u0432\u0443 \u0444\u0443\u043d\u043a\u0446\u0456\u044e","rank_math_focus_keyword":"WhatsApp","td_subtitle":"","subtitle":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[805620],"tags":[806764],"class_list":["post-23543","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-science-tech","tag-806764"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ukrmedia.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23543","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ukrmedia.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ukrmedia.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ukrmedia.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/207433404"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ukrmedia.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23543"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/ukrmedia.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23543\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":23544,"href":"https:\/\/ukrmedia.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23543\/revisions\/23544"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ukrmedia.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/23542"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ukrmedia.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23543"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ukrmedia.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23543"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ukrmedia.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23543"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}