The Indian government has issued a notice to Meta regarding WhatsApp's upcoming username feature, warning the platform not to roll it out until concerns about potential fraud, impersonation, and public safety are addressed to the government's satisfaction.
WhatsApp has released detailed FAQs on its upcoming username feature, outlining measures to address concerns around impersonation, scams, and unwanted contact, amidst government scrutiny.
Instant messaging app WhatsApp temporarily put multiple accounts, including those in India, "under review" for 24 hours, blocking all app features. This disruption prompted numerous affected users to voice their concerns on social media, while a WhatsApp spokesperson acknowledged the issue, stating they are working to resolve it quickly.
Meta-owned WhatsApp has submitted its reply to the government's notice on the "username" feature and the response is being examined, sources said on Thursday.
Meta-owned WhatsApp has been granted more time to submit its response on the contentious 'username' feature and assured the government that it will not roll it out in India until discussions are complete, according to sources.
WhatsApp has asserted that username reservation relating to well-known public figure names is restricted only to their legitimate account owners, and termed as "false" any claims that people are reserving popular or well-known usernames.
WhatsApp is finally letting you hide your phone number behind a custom username. While it's a massive win for privacy, cybersecurity experts warn it could unleash a wave of identity scams. Here is what you need to know.
The government on Tuesday summoned a top Meta executive after Prime Minister Narendra Modi's recent post addressing India's youth and promising stringent measures against paper leaks was briefly restricted by Facebook, and although the US-headquartered social media giant blamed it on a technical glitch and apologised, the IT Ministry found the explanation "inadequate".
The government has issued a stern notice to Meta on Child Sexual Exploitative and Abuse Material (CSEAM) in paid advertisements on Instagram, sources said on Sunday.
Instant messaging platform Telegram has been restored in India after a week-long government ban, imposed due to its alleged role in circulating leaked NEET examination papers, expired. The Delhi High Court had upheld the ban as lawful and necessary.
After the success of bringing businesses to WhatsApp, Meta - its parent - is now introducing ads and subscriptions to Status and Channels under the Updates tab of the messaging app, the company said on Monday. This move will further push its monetisation efforts on WhatsApp.
The Indian government has issued a notice to Telegram, demanding a crackdown on the widespread dissemination of pirated films and OTT content. The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting seeks an Action Taken Report within 15 days, emphasizing a shift towards platform accountability for copyright infringement, which is deemed a criminal offence.
Meta on Tuesday published a detailed blog outlining its efforts to combat child sexual abuse material across its apps, citing AI-powered detection, ad review systems and large-scale enforcement actions, days after the government issued a notice to the social media giant over reports of Instagram advertisements promoting such content.
The Delhi High Court has questioned the Centre's decision to temporarily restrict access to Telegram ahead of the NEET-UG 2026 re-examination, asking how the rights of 150 million users can be curtailed due to concerns over a few miscreants. The court reserved its verdict after hearing arguments from both sides.
Superstar Vijay's highly anticipated film 'Jana Nayagan' has been leaked online in high definition ahead of its theatrical release, prompting swift legal action and industry condemnation.
Meta has announced new anti-scam features and awareness initiatives, including safety tools and tips to protect users, particularly senior citizens from cyber fraud and online scams, as the social media giant stepped up efforts to help people stay safe online.
'Just like oral hygiene, cyber hygiene must become a daily habit,' says Beena Vaheed, executive director, Bank of Baroda. 'It is not enough to rely only on banks, companies, or the government. Each of us must play our part.'
Senior citizens are particularly vulnerable due to their high savings, trust in authorities, and limited familiarity with online frauds.
With a confident new generation of innovators, India now has the scale and self-belief to shape its own digital destiny marked by creation, observes Ajay Kumar chairman, UPSC.
WhatsApp on Wednesday announced the expansion of its payments service in India to make it easier for people transacting with businesses to pay for purchases directly in the chat, with a choice of UPI apps, including rival digital payment options, as well as credit and debit cards. Meta founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg asserted that India is leading the world in people and businesses embracing messaging. WhatsApp said it is working with partners Razorpay and PayU "to make paying for something as simple as sending a message", as the Meta-owned platform unveiled a host of new features to woo businesses in India's booming commerce market.
'Today, the State looks at everyone with suspicion.'
'The question for the TMC is not whether it can hold its bastions, but whether it can expand effectively into regions where the BJP already possesses a good ecosystem.'
A veterans' cricket match involving India and Pakistan in the World Championship of Legends in London on Sunday has been cancelled after Indian players, including Shikhar Dhawan, refused to be a part of it citing the Pahalgam terror attack in April.
Link your UPI app to a separate bank account or wallet that has only a limited sum.
Users well-versed in privacy laws or those concerned with their data would be worried; it could well be that many of us have already accepted the end user agreement without ado, points out Ashish Narsale.
UPI-related frauds have accounted for a cumulative loss of Rs 2,145 crore across 2.7 million reported incidents.
Top officials in key ministries, including finance and IT, are of the opinion that a sensitive payments system such as UPI should not be on a platform whose security is possibly compromised.
The high point of the 19 Shastri months was the 22-day war that he fought against great odds and won in principle, even if military historians often call it a stalemate. Pakistan saw a great opportunity to conquer Kashmir and lost. It was the last time they had the relative strength militarily and diplomatically to take Kashmir. Shastri's resolve buried that dream forever, points out Shekhar Gupta.
The company believes that "these changes -- which we'll continue to evaluate -- will help keep WhatsApp the way it was designed to be: a private messaging app".
Messaging service WhatsApp has updated its global privacy policy, under which it will now share phone numbers of users with its parent company, Facebook.
The Facebook-owned company brought out full-page advertisements in leading newspapers as part of their awareness campaign to help users identify and prevent the spread of false information.
On October 29, WhatsApp announced it was suing NSO Group for selling its software, Pegasus, which has the ability to compromise a device and get access to all of a target's data. Spooked by revelations that activists and journalists were spied upon by using NSO Group's spyware, many have moved to alternative messaging platforms such as Signal and Telegram.
Bharti Airtel had planned to charge separately for internet-based voice calls provided by Skype.
The saffron party's IT cell had realised the power of WhatsApp early in the day and wielded it to devastating effect in the Bengal elections.
What is digital house arrest? It is a tactic cybercriminals use to confine victims to their homes and scam them, explains Tamal Bandyopadhyay.
The prime minister and his cabinet will be compelled to do what governments in other democracies must: Listen to criticism from citizens and tolerate it and even learn from it. In doing so, perhaps they can also get a laugh out of the material, as many of us so often do, notes Aakar Patel.
In the new year be careful online as there are many scamsters lurking in the cloud, warns A Ganesh Nadar after twice escaping being scammed.
When the landslide hit, Sruthi's house was washed away, along with its inhabitants. She lost her entire family and some relatives. All she had left for a close confidante was her fiance Jenson. Days after the landslide and the loss of her family, Jenson died in a road accident that also left Sruthi with serious injuries. News of the accident and Sruthi's backdrop as the lone surviving member of a family wiped out in the July landslide, was picked up by the media, and people rushed to help.
'Those (Russian) fighter jets just drop bombs and fly away.' 'How will they know if a bus is carrying Indian students?'
While people voted in a fifth round that will set the tone as this election rounds into the straight, and while Modi on the stump chews the cud of personal grievances and hackneyed promises that have long since passed their use-by date, there is a rogue wave rising -- what damage it will do, we will know 16 days from today, observes Prem Panicker.
