WhatsApp bans over 47 lakh Indian accounts in March, higher than month before
The Meta-owned platform said more than 1.6 million of these accounts were proactively banned without any reports being registered from users.
Over 4.7 million WhatsApp accounts have been banned in India in last month followed by the ‘negative feedback’ received from users, according to a monthly report published by the Meta-owned instant messaging platform. More than 1.6 million of these accounts were proactively banned without any reports being registered from users.
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"Between March 1, 2023 and March 31, 2023, 4,715,906 WhatsApp accounts were banned. 1,659,385 of these accounts were proactively banned, before any reports from users," the report said.
The India Monthly Report, which is published complying with the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021, contains details of complaints received from users and following action taken by WhatsApp. The platform has also complied with all three orders received from the newly-formed Grievance Appellate Committee in the last month. However, it didn't disclose further details on the orders.
The number of accounts banned in March is higher than February, which was over 4.5 million followed by 2.9 million in January, 3.6 million in December last year and 3.7 million in November 2022.
“Over the years, we have consistently invested in Artificial Intelligence and other state of the art technology, data scientists and experts, and in processes, in order to keep our users safe on our platform,” said a WhatsApp spokesperson.
As many as 4,720 grievance reports were received last month in which over 4,300 were related to ‘ban appeal’, according to the report.
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Monthly compliance reports, mentioning details of grievances received and action taken, have been made mandatory under the IT rules for digital platforms with over 50 lakh users.
Similarly, GAC mechanism has been launched by the central government which allows users to appeal against the decisions taken by social media platforms. They can file complaints online against the grievance officer of an intermediary such as Meta or Twitter.
