After WhatsApp, Telegram, and Signal receive a username feature notification

Spokespeople for Telegram and Signal had no immediate comment to share on the announcements. File photo for representational purposes only. | Photo credit: Dado Ruvic

The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) issued a notice to Telegram and Signal on Thursday (July 2, 2026) seeking information on their username feature. The announcement comes shortly after a similar letter was sent to WhatsApp on Wednesday (July 1, 2026). The Meta-owned messaging platform is currently implementing the feature anywhere in the world, but is accepting reservations for usernames.

Spokespeople for Telegram and Signal had no immediate comment to make on the announcements (Telegram was contacted outside normal business hours in the UAE). It looks like the username feature will remain available on both platforms until Thursday evening.

The Union government’s move against the three messaging platforms comes after a week-long ban on Telegram after authorities alleged that PDF files with outdated data could lead people to mistakenly assume that the question paper has been leaked. Telegram fought the ban in the Delhi High Court, calling the move a “mistake”. The court sided with the government, finding a short ban an adequate response. Telegram was unblocked after taking the NEET exam, after leaking the first attempt.

The Internet Freedom Foundation, a Delhi-based digital rights group, called the crackdown on messaging platforms “an unconstitutional drag on privacy features” (username accounts on all platforms are designed to hide phone numbers). “The executive branch is curtailing statutory functions, and with them the private communications those functions protect, without the authority of law,” IFF said in a statement.

“We agree that there can be a regulatory body for such functions, but that requires a clear statement of policy intent rooted in legislation. That simply does not exist at the moment. No provision in the IT Act allows for that, as we explained in our statement yesterday,” the body added, saying the notices were unconstitutional.

The announcement for Signal in particular was troubling, IFF said. “Signal…keeps almost (no data on user accounts and activity), has refused to create a searchable directory that would require an identification order, and is a tool relied on by journalists, activists and many vulnerable people and their contacts, so its alerts target protected speech directly,” the IFF said.

Published – 3 Jul 2026 0:15 AM IST