WhatsApp Bans Over 7.9 Million Accounts in India in March

WhatsApp Bans Over 7.9 Million Accounts in India in March.

WhatsApp Bans Over 7.9 Million Accounts in India in March: Following the IT (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021, Meta-owned WhatsApp has banned more than 79 lakh accounts in India in March.

In its monthly compliance report, WhatsApp said 7,954,000 accounts were banned between March 1-31, including 1,430,000 that were banned proactively.

In March, the messaging platform in India received a record 12,782 complaint reports, and 11 of them were "actioned."

Accounts Actioned indicates when WhatsApp took remedial action based on a complaint, such as banning an account or restoring a previously banned account.

The company noted, "We respond to all grievances received except in cases where a grievance is deemed to be a duplicate of a previous ticket. An account is 'actioned' when an account is banned or a previously banned account is restored, as a result of a complaint."

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According to Meta, the company is committed to safe elections and has established a high priority channel with the Election Commission of India (ECI) as part of an industry initiative. In order to assist ECI in conducting free and transparent elections, the company observes the voluntary code of ethics.

It further said, “WhatsApp maintains regular engagements with ECI officials to keep them updated on the approach to Indian elections and to discuss methods of working together more effectively. Additionally, political parties are trained ahead of all elections to promote an understanding of the importance of using WhatsApp responsibly.”

The training cautions party workers that their accounts could become banned if they send WhatsApp messages to users without prior user consent, it added.

To oversee these efforts, the company employs engineers, data scientists, analysts, researchers, and experts in law enforcement, online safety, and technology developments.

According to the company, "7,628,000 accounts" were banned between February 1 and 29.

Approximately 1,424,000 of these accounts were proactively banned before any reports were received.

Furthermore, 13.7 lakh accounts were proactively banned in January (1-31), before users reported these accounts.

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