WhatsApp Takes Action; Bans 7.2 Million Indian Accounts In November 2023

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New Delhi: WhatsApp, owned by Meta, reported on Monday that it had enforced a record-breaking ban on over 71 lakh problematic accounts in India during November 2023, aligning with the new IT Rules 2021. 

The company banned 71,96,000 accounts between November 1 to November 30, 2023. Approximately 19,54,000 accounts were proactively banned before user reports, as disclosed in the monthly compliance report by Whatsapp. ()

Whatsapp is one of the most popular messaging platforms in India with over 500 millions users in the country. The platform registered a new high with 8,841 complaint reports in India for November. Only six of these reported issues were addressed by the platform. ()

"Accounts Actioned" refers to reports where WhatsApp took corrective measures following a report, and "taking action" indicates either banning an account or reinstating a previously banned account.

"This user-safety report contains details of the user complaints received and the corresponding action taken by WhatsApp, as well as WhatsApp's own preventive actions to combat abuse on our platform," according to the company.

 The government recently introduced the Grievance Appellate Committee (GAC), addressing their content-related concerns and other issues to empower a vast number of Indian social media users.

The newly created panel has been designed to strengthen the country's digital regulations overseeing Big Tech companies. The panel will assess user appeals against decisions made by social media platforms.

"We are an industry leader among end-to-end encrypted messaging services in preventing and combating abuse. In addition to our safety features and controls, we employ a team of engineers, data scientists, analysts, researchers, and experts in law enforcement, online safety, and technology developments to oversee these efforts," said WhatsApp.