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Knews Desk- The central government has tightened monitoring of messaging apps. After WhatsApp, now notice has also been issued to Telegram and Signal regarding their username feature. The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) has asked both the companies to clarify how they are addressing the challenges of fraud, impersonation and online abuse in username-based systems. The government has also asked Telegram why it should be allowed to continue this feature.

Earlier, the government had given instructions to stop Meta from launching the username feature on WhatsApp. The ministry says that until the review of all aspects to privacy and security of this feature is completed, it should not be rolled out in India. The notice sent to Meta sought a detailed reply within three days and also asked whether the feature could increase the risk of cyber crime and online fraud.

Now the government has extended the scope of its investigation to Telegram and Signal. Both these platforms already allow users to chat using just their username without sharing the phone number. The government believes that while on one hand this facility increases the privacy of the users, on the other hand it is also possible to misuse it.

The biggest concern of the government is that through username, scammers can easily cheat people by creating fake identity of any famous person, government official, company or trusted person. Due to the phone numbers being hidden, it may be difficult to identify such fake accounts. Due to this, there is a possibility of increase in cases of phishing, online fraud, digital arrest and other cyber crimes.

MeitY also wanted to know from the companies what security measures they adopt to identify such fake accounts, resolve complaints and protect users. The government aims to ensure that new features do not have any negative impact on the security and digital trust of users.