The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) issued notices to Telegram and Signal on July 2, 2026, over their username features that allow users to communicate without sharing phone numbers. The government raised concerns about anonymous communication enabling illegal activities, with questions on data traceability and law enforcement access. India's IT Rules 2021 require significant social media intermediaries to enable identification of originators of messages. Telegram and Signal are among the most popular encrypted messaging apps in India with millions of users.
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MeitY Issues Notices to Telegram and Signal Over Username Features; Data Traceability Concerns
Key Points
- The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) issued notices to Telegram and Signal on July 2, 2026, over their username features that allow users to communicate without sharing phone numbers
- The government raised concerns about anonymous communication enabling illegal activities, with questions on data traceability and law enforcement access
- India's IT Rules 2021 require significant social media intermediaries to enable identification of originators of messages
- Telegram and Signal are among the most popular encrypted messaging apps in India with millions of users
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• MeitY notices to Telegram + Signal: username features + data traceability concerns (Jul 2, 2026) • IT Rules 2021: significant social media intermediaries must enable message originator identification • MeitY: Ministry of Electronics and IT; Minister: Ashwini Vaishnaw • Telegram: 900M+ global users; Signal: end-to-end encrypted; India: IT Act 2000 + IT Rules 2021 governs
