The company said the reserved usernames belong to specific groups, including existing Instagram and Facebook account holders, public figures, celebrities, government entities and Meta Verified users.

🇰🇪 Breaking It Down

Specifically, presidents and other famous leaders, footballers and other sports personalities, famous musicians, and government entities such as State House have all had their usernames automatically reserved for them.

"We’ve held well-known names and some variations of them, like public figures, celebrities, government entities and Meta-verified accounts, so they can only be claimed by their legitimate owners," Meta disclosed.

In a statement on Wednesday, July 1, Meta clarified that creating a username will be optional, meaning users can continue using the app with their phone numbers if they prefer.

📌 What You Need to Know

"There are a few reasons you might not be able to reserve the username you want. It's an existing Instagram or Facebook username; these are reserved for their owners," it clarified.

Meta noted that the introduction of usernames is being accompanied by several security measures aimed at preventing abuse.

The company added that it will actively monitor reports of impersonation and suspicious activity, particularly involving high-profile accounts, to protect users from scams.

To further strengthen privacy, Meta is introducing a username key, an optional feature that requires anyone wishing to contact a user through their username to also know a unique security key.

According to the company, users cannot search for others by username in the same way they cannot search by phone number, and existing safety tools such as blocking, reporting and warnings about unknown senders will remain in place.

📰 Source: Kenyans.co.ke