Somalia joined India's protest against WhatsApp's transition to usernames

The government of Somalia supported India's objections to Meta Platforms' decision to allow WhatsApp users to find each other by usernames instead of phone numbers — Somalia became the second national government in a week to formally request explanations from the company about the new feature.

What Feature Sparked the Dispute

WhatsApp, owned by Meta, has begun implementing the ability to add contacts by username — without revealing a phone number, as this has long worked in Telegram and Signal. For more than two billion service users, a phone number has long served as the only identifier within the application: to write to a person, you had to know their number, which automatically created a barrier to random contacts and spam.

• Meta has begun implementing login and contact search by username instead of phone number in WhatsApp
• India was the first to formally request clarification from Meta on the innovation
• Somalia became the second government in a week to join the protest
• The dispute has already spread across two continents — Asia and Africa

Why Authorities Are Concerned

A phone number in WhatsApp has long served as a built-in identity verification mechanism — it is tied to a SIM card and, accordingly, to a telecom operator and passport data, which are collected by most countries when it is purchased. The transition to usernames, according to the logic of regulators, complicates it for law enforcement and the platform itself to track scammers, spam mailings and potentially dangerous content, since a username can be changed arbitrarily, several can be created at once, and it cannot be linked to real documents.

What This Threatens Meta With

India is WhatsApp's largest market in the world by number of users, and the objections of Indian regulators to Meta have historically been taken extremely seriously: the company has repeatedly adjusted service policy to comply with New Delhi's requirements, from content moderation rules to disclosure of the origin of mass mailings. Somalia's accession shows that concerns about usernames are not limited to one market and one threat model — different countries have different arguments against anonymization, from fraud to national security concerns, but the conclusion is the same: many regulators consider a phone number a safer way to identify users than an arbitrary nickname.

How This Looks Against the Background of Other Markets

WhatsApp is not the only Meta service facing regulatory objections due to changes in user identification: the company regularly balances between the request for privacy from ordinary users and the demands of states for communication transparency. In countries with high levels of fraud through messengers or a history of extremist activity, a phone number has traditionally been considered a minimum, but still effective barrier against anonymous abuse, and its abandonment is perceived by local authorities not as a technical improvement, but as a potential risk.

What This Means

Even a small interface change in a messenger with a billion-strong audience instantly becomes the subject of international regulatory disputes — Meta must either refine the username feature taking into account the requirements of individual countries, or face restrictions on WhatsApp use in places where regulators consider a phone number a matter of national security.