In the last three weeks, the Indian government has issued several notices and instructions to some of the world’s largest technology companies. During the re-examination of NEET-UG, Telegram was blocked for some time and the facility to edit messages for existing posts was ordered to be closed. Apart from this, Meta was directed to stop introducing the WhatsApp username feature, Signal and Telegram were asked to inform about their anonymity features. Not only this, Telegram received a separate anti-piracy notice from the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting and now Meta is facing investigation regarding Instagram ads as the company is accused of running ads containing pornographic videos related to children on Instagram.
What does MeitY Secretary say?
According to Moneycontrol, MeitY Secretary S. Krishnan has linked the government’s concerns to the architecture of the platform rather than to isolated incidents. Explaining the decision to question WhatsApp’s username feature, Krishnan said that the problem is that it increases the possibility of identity abuse. During a recent program he said, the way it promotes or Cyber crimes Which gives convenience to do. That is a very serious issue, he said, adding that the government is concerned that usernames could make it easier to commit impersonation and identity spoofing by adopting someone else’s identity.
He further said, this is another aspect of the methods of committing cyber crimes. This is why we have asked WhatsApp to explain why they have kept this feature? Similarly, we have sought clarification from other platforms as well. Rohit Kumar, founding partner of public policy firm ‘The Quantum Hub’ (TQH), said that there has been a different regulatory concern behind each step.
Read this also- Amazon Prime Day 2026: Last day of sale, bumper discounts on these 5 smartphones
Leave a Reply