India Plans Uniform Messaging Rules After WhatsApp Row

The Indian government is moving toward a single regulatory standard for all messaging platforms, officials told The Hindustan Times. The push follows a dispute with WhatsApp over its proposed username feature, which the government opposed over fraud and impersonation risks.

“We are not in favour of WhatsApp introducing this feature,” sources in the government said, adding that usernames could make impersonation and digital arrest scams harder to investigate.

The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology has sent notices to WhatsApp, Telegram, and Signal, asking how each platform handles fraud and impersonation risks. Telegram has submitted its reply explaining its safeguards. WhatsApp’s response arrived Thursday evening. “Submissions of both WhatsApp and Telegram are currently being examined by the government,” sources told PTI.