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The Economic Times
The Economic Times
Technology

ETtech Explainer: Why Telegram and Signal are under the government's scanner over usernames

The government has broadened its scrutiny of username-based messaging features, issuing notices to Telegram and Signal just a day after asking WhatsApp to pause the rollout of its upcoming username feature.

PTI reported on Thursday that the Ministry of Electronics and IT (MeitY) asked the platforms to explain what safeguards they have in place to prevent fraud, impersonation and other misuse that could be enabled by usernames, which allow users to communicate without having to share their phone numbers.

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