Why India has asked WhatsApp to halt its username feature rollout

📌 Summary:

• IT Ministry (MeitY) issued a notice to Meta-owned WhatsApp asking it to halt rollout of its new "username" feature, giving the company 3 days to explain
• The feature lets users pick an optional unique username and hide their phone number when contacting someone for the first time; a phone number is still required to use WhatsApp
• Government concern: the feature may materially increase online fraud, phishing, "digital arrest" scams and impersonation of individuals, public authorities, financial institutions and government agencies via look-alike usernames
• Ministry of Home Affairs flagged concerns to MeitY; the government will run a risk assessment and check if the feature falls foul of the existing legal architecture; rollout could be stopped if guardrails are inadequate
• Industry voices — Paytm CEO Vijay Shekhar Sharma and MobiKwik CEO Bipin Preet Singh — warned look-alike usernames could become a major vector for impersonation and scams
• WhatsApp says safeguards exist: high-profile names of public figures/government entities/celebrities are reserved, look-alike derivatives held, other users must know the exact username, and limits apply on how many new people an account can contact
• Similar username features already exist on Telegram and Signal

🎯 UPSC Relevance: GS3 (cyber security, social media & internal security) — regulation of platform features, impersonation-driven cybercrime, and the government–Big Tech interface.

📝 Prelims Facts:

• Nodal ministry: Ministry of Electronics and IT (MeitY); MHA also involved
• "Digital arrest" is a scam involving impersonation of law-enforcement/officials
• Telegram and Signal already offer username-based contact

🔑 Key Term: Digital arrest — a cyber-fraud where scammers impersonate police/agencies over video calls to extort victims by claiming they are under "arrest".