New Delhi, July 10 (IANS). Messaging platform Telegram has sent a response to the notice issued by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) regarding its ‘username’ feature. According to sources, before this WhatsApp has also submitted its reply to the government.
According to sources, the Central Government is currently reviewing the responses sent by both Telegram and WhatsApp companies.
Actually, through the username feature, users can communicate with other people without sharing their mobile number. The government fears that this facility could be misused for cyber crimes like online fraud, phishing, identity copying and so-called ‘digital arrest’.
Earlier, WhatsApp had also responded to the government notice regarding its proposed username feature. At present the Ministry is also investigating the information given by him.
Last week, the ministry had issued a notice to WhatsApp saying that the proposed username feature could lead to an increase in cases like online fraud, phishing, digital arrest and identity theft.
The government had also directed WhatsApp not to launch the username feature in India until the government is completely satisfied on this issue.
Under the proposed feature, users will be able to communicate on WhatsApp without revealing their mobile number, which will further increase their privacy.
Earlier this week, IT Secretary S. Krishnan had said that he expected to get a reply from WhatsApp by Thursday.
He had also confirmed that the government has also sent similar notices to Telegram and Signal regarding their username feature. The government has asked these platforms what security measures they have adopted to prevent the risk of fraud and identity theft.
S. Krishnan had said, “We will wait for the reply to the notice. After that further decision will be taken on the basis of the information given by the companies.”
Meanwhile, Union IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnav had recently directed ministry officials to seek answers from Meta as well. This case pertains to the alleged discovery of advertising material related to sexual exploitation of children on Instagram.
–IANS
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