India orders WhatsApp to halt username feature over anonymity concerns

India has asked WhatsApp to justify the implementation of a planned feature covering usernames and to freeze the roll-out in its biggest market, escalating a crackdown on messaging anonymity that began with Telegram, according to a government letter. The move comes as authorities in India grapple with a spike in cybercrime, with scammers exploiting low digital safety awareness among millions of internet users. Earlier this week, Meta’s WhatsApp said ‌it had begun a phased global roll-out,...