The Centre has widened its scrutiny of messaging platforms by sending notices to Telegram and Signal over their existing username feature, days after sending a notice to Meta-owned WhatsApp, PTI reported, citing a source.
According to the report, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) has sought an explanation from Telegram on why the feature should continue to be allowed on the platform.
The username feature enables users to connect without sharing their phone numbers.
On Wednesday, the government issued a notice to WhatsApp, expressing concern that the proposed feature could materially increase online fraud, phishing, digital arrest scams and impersonation attacks. It also directed
Trump rejects Iran's strong position
Trump went on to reject media reports that Iran was in a stronger position despite the conflict having battered the country's economy. He repeated the looming food crisis in the West Asian nation. "They need food. They need corn, wheat, and soybeans, and we're going to have exclusively our American farmers provide that. Assuming we get to the position where we should get to," Trump averred.
He went on to call out The New York Times for reporting that Iran is in a stronger position in the war. "The New York Times said the other day that Iran is in a better position now than it was four months ago," he said.
"I said, wait a minute, their military is gone. Their inflation is up to 300 per cent from 5 per cent. Their leaders are gone. Their second row of leaders is gone. Some of their third row of leaders are gone. Their generals are mostly wiped out," the American leader added.
Trump noted that his administration has constantly avoided closing the Strait of Hormuz because of the impact it would have had on global markets. "If I want to be the tough guy and close up the Strait for the next few years, where 20 per cent or 21 per cent of the oil never comes out, and you can't get oil anymore, oil will be USD 350 a barrel, and there'll be a depression," he remarked.
Instead, he said that the US Navy quietly escorted tankers through the southern approach to the Strait. "Every night, we were taking ships out through the South, which is the furthest point from where they have their little weapons, and they were going along the coast with no lights for a month and a half," he said.
"We had one night where we took 22 ships out. That's a lot of oil. Our Navy took them out. We escorted them out, and nobody knew. The lights were off, everything was off, everything was silent," the American leader furthered. It is pertinent to note that the remarks from Trump came amid ongoing peace talks between Tehran and Washington DC, after both sides agreed to a ceasefire last month.the platform to pause the feature until consultations with the government are completed to its satisfaction.
According to PTI, the government source has said the cases are similar but not identical, noting that Telegram already offers the feature, while WhatsApp has only announced it.
The report also noted that India is WhatsApp's largest market with more than 500 million users, significantly larger than Telegram's user base in the country.
WhatsApp has defended the feature, saying it includes safeguards designed to prevent scams and impersonation.