TV actress Smriti Khaannaa has weighed in on the controversy surrounding celebrity endorsements of WhatsApp's upcoming username feature, calling on public figures to ask basic safety questions before lending their name to any product or service promotion. Her remarks come after the Centre raised formal concerns about the feature, flagging risks of impersonation, fraud, and phishing.

What Smriti Khaannaa Said

The actress, known for her roles in 'Tere Ishq Mein Ghayal' and 'Ghar Ki Lakshmi Betiyann', said celebrities bear a special responsibility because their followers extend trust without independent verification. “If they take money to promote it, they should ask basic questions like ‘Is this safe?’ They don’t need to be experts, but blind promoting is risky,” she said.

Khaannaa also addressed the timing of endorsements relative to regulatory clearance. “If the government is worried, promoting it early makes the celeb look careless. Better to wait,” she said. She added that even a measured public statement — acknowledging awareness of the issue and expressing hope for a resolution — would be more responsible than silence or uncritical promotion.

Star Power and Public Trust

Khaannaa highlighted a well-documented dynamic: celebrity endorsement lowers the public’s guard. “When a famous person says ‘use this’, people drop their guard. They think it must be safe without checking,” she said. She argued that this influence creates an implicit accountability that celebrities cannot ignore, particularly when government bodies have flagged safety concerns about the product in question.

On Financial Incentives and Legal Risk

Asked whether endorsement deals have tilted too far toward money over responsibility, Khaannaa was candid. “The pay is huge, so some celebs don’t ask tough questions. But now they can be fined, so it’s getting risky,” she noted. Her remarks reflect a broader shift in India’s regulatory environment, where celebrity endorsers can be held legally liable for misleading promotions under consumer protection laws.

The WhatsApp Username Controversy

The Centre recently urged Meta to pause the rollout of WhatsApp’s username feature, citing potential misuse for impersonation, fraud, and phishing attacks. The concern gained attention after the feature had already received public endorsements from prominent celebrities — including superstar Aamir Khan — before any official regulatory approval was in place. Critics argue this sequence illustrates exactly the problem Khaannaa describes: star-driven promotion outpacing safety scrutiny.

Accountability as a Standard

Khaannaa stated that celebrities who mislead followers or fail to verify the products they promote should be held answerable to the public. She framed accountability not as an optional virtue but as a baseline obligation for anyone whose public profile shapes consumer behaviour. As regulatory frameworks around endorsements tighten in India, her remarks are likely to resonate with ongoing policy discussions about influencer and celebrity liability.