Listen to this article:

New Delhi: The Union government has sent formal notices to Telegram and Signal on Thursday (July 2), asking both messaging platforms to explain the safeguards in place around features that let users send messages without disclosing their phone numbers, Reuters reported, citing a government source. The Internet Freedom Foundation (IFF) has urged the government to withdraw the notices and disclose them publicly adding that the inclusion of Signal indicated what “this is really about”.

This move comes a day after the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) sent a notice to Whatsapp on Tuesday (July 1) directing it to not rollout the proposed “username” feature for users.

The source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told Reuters that Telegram and Signal were asked to explain how they guard against impersonation and misuse that such phone-number-free features could enable.

As reported by The Wire earlier, MeitY has sought an “explanation” from Meta about the new feature, along with documentation, “within three days”.

Telegram introduced the username feature years before Signal or WhatsApp did. Signal has made the feature available in India since 2024.

The Union government has reportedly raised concerns that letting people message using usernames instead of phone numbers could make it easier for scammers to pose as public figures, run phishing schemes, and pull off “digital arrest” frauds.

Referring to the development as “digital license raj”, IFF called on MeitY to withdraw the notices to the three platforms and publish them, and state the provision of law under which it claims to........

© The Wire