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New Delhi: Reacting quickly to a new “username” feature WhatsApp proposes to introduce for users, the Union government has sent a notice to Meta, the owner of the messaging service, directing it to not roll out the service in India.

The notice, sent on Tuesday (July 1) by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, has sought an “explanation” from Meta about the new feature, along with documentation, “within three days”.

“You are also directed not to roll out this feature until the consultation on this point is achieved to the satisfaction of the government,” it says.

While introducing the feature, WhatsApp said that the username will keep phone numbers “private”.

The government’s notice says the feature could........

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