WhatsApp banned record 79.5 lakh Indian accounts in March

Meta-owned WhatsApp has said it banned more than 79 lakh accounts in India in the month of March, in compliance with the IT (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021.

Between the March 1-31 period, 7,954,000 WhatsApp accounts were banned and 1,430,000 of these accounts were proactively banned, before any reports from users, the company said in its monthly compliance report.

The messaging platform, which has more than 500 million users in India, received a record 12,782 complaint reports in March in the country, and the records “actioned” were 11.

“Accounts Actioned” means reports where WhatsApp took remedial action based on the plaint and taking action denotes either banning an account or a previously banned account being restored as a result.

“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,” the company said.

Between February 1-29, the company had banned “7,628,000 accounts”.

About 1,424,000 of these accounts were proactively banned, before any reports from users.

According to the company, in addition to 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.”