Somalia supports India's stance against WhatsApp's change of usernames.

      Somalia has supported India's objection to WhatsApp's initiative to allow users to connect via usernames instead of phone numbers, escalating a dispute that now encompasses two continents. This endorsement makes Somalia the second national government in just a week to officially question Meta regarding the usernames feature that began its rollout at the end of June.

      On June 29, WhatsApp began allowing its approximately three billion users to reserve unique usernames, with a full launch planned for later this year. Although a phone number is still required to create an account, once a username is established, new contacts will no longer have access to the associated phone number behind it.

      This feature is a major concern for New Delhi, which last week requested WhatsApp to pause the rollout while it conducts consultations regarding potential fraud risks. With over 600 million users, India is WhatsApp's largest market, and its Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology has given Meta three days to clarify why the feature would not contribute to impersonation.

      Somalia's regulatory authority has now echoed these concerns. Mustafa Yasin Sheikh, director-general of the National Communications Authority of Somalia, stated in a phone interview with Bloomberg on Monday that substituting phone numbers with usernames could impair Somali security forces' ability to identify individuals involved in terrorism, organized crime, and other illegal activities.

      "Somalia is following India's lead," Sheikh remarked, citing worries about the impersonation of governmental bodies and public officials, financial fraud targeting Somalia's mobile money sector, and the exploitation of anonymous communications by groups like al-Shabaab and organized cybercriminal networks.

      This reference is significant. Since 2006, Somalia's government has been battling the al-Qaeda-associated al-Shabaab insurgency, a conflict that has resulted in thousands of deaths and millions displaced, leading the country to consider any reduction in digital traceability primarily as a security issue.

      According to outlets reporting on the Bloomberg article, Meta has not responded to a request for comment regarding Somalia’s objections. The company previously indicated that this feature is not yet operational in India and has proactively reserved usernames that resemble those of public figures, government entities, and verified Meta accounts to prevent impersonation.

      The recurring theme in both governments’ concerns is traceability; there is apprehension that a visible username instead of a phone number offers investigators a less robust starting point when pursuing wrongdoers. India's notification cautioned that usernames "may facilitate impersonation and identity spoofing, including the impersonation of individuals, public authorities, financial institutions, and government agencies."

      This is not the first time India has raised such arguments. In earlier disputes over tracing WhatsApp messages, Meta resisted, claiming that fulfilling such requests would undermine end-to-end encryption for all users, not just those under scrutiny.

      The usernames issue also aligns with India's broader campaign against anonymity features in messaging applications. Recently, New Delhi blocked Telegram channels associated with leaked exam papers, and the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology has issued similar notices to Telegram and Signal regarding their username systems.

      However, not all legal experts agree with this stance. The Internet Freedom Foundation, a digital rights organization based in New Delhi, has asserted that the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology is improperly extending a platform-liability provision of the IT Act into product-design regulation, arguing that fraud should be addressed under existing criminal law rather than preemptively inhibited by withholding a feature.

      For now, the feature remains inaccessible in India, and Somalia’s intervention suggests that Meta's vision of operating without phone numbers may require negotiations on a country-by-country basis rather than a singular global implementation. How Mogadishu proceeds and whether other nations adopt a similar stance will indicate the extent of the objections.