Physical Address
304 North Cardinal St.
Dorchester Center, MA 02124
The Somali government has told the BBC that it is concerned about WhatsApp’s plans to launch a new feature that will allow people to chat using usernames instead of phone numbers. This poses a security risk, he said.
Communications and Technology Minister Ahmed Osman Diri said it would make it more difficult to track down and prevent criminals in a country still fighting Islamist militants.
It is expected to reach three billion global WhatsApp users worldwide in the coming months.
Somalia has been wracked by a brutal and deadly insurgency – led by al-Shabaab, an al-Qaeda affiliate – for more than two decades.
Regarding the Somalia threat, WhatsApp told the BBC that the feature had not yet gone live and that users still needed a phone number to use the app. It also revealed that the feature comes with built-in protection against scams.
But now, all things are great. BBC Focus on Africa podcast The Somali government spoke to WhatsApp owner Meta about their concerns and was confident that “we will reach a decision on this issue soon”.
He pointed out that Somalia has a “unique context”, with an economy heavily dependent on mobile money transfers.
“Unverified and invisible usernames” introduced the risk of money laundering and leaving citizens vulnerable to fraudsters, he said.
Al-Shabaab militants have also been known to use WhatsApp for hacking and propaganda.
In the year In 2024, Somalia’s intelligence agency said it shut down 20 WhatsApp groups run by al-Shabaab through extortion and intimidation.
It also said that it has disabled data services for about 2,500 phone numbers associated with them.
