WhatsApp banned 7.11 mn Indian accounts in September, shows govt data

Meta-owned WhatsApp banned 7.11 million accounts during September in compliance with the IT rules, according to the latest India monthly report released by the popular messaging platform.

Out of them, 2.57 million accounts were proactively banned before any reports from users.

An Indian account is identified via the '+91' country code.

"Between 1 September, 2023 and 30 September 2023, 71,11,000 WhatsApp accounts were banned. 25,71,000 of these accounts were proactively banned, before any reports from users," it said.

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

Between September 1-30, the platform received six orders from the Grievance Appellate Committee, according to the report, and all six orders were complied with.

WhatsApp had banned 7.4 million accounts in August and out of them, 3.5 million accounts had been proactively banned.

WhatsApp, in its latest report, said it received 10,442 user reports spanning across account support (1,031), ban appeal (7,396), other support (1,518), product support (370) and safety (127) during September.

During this period, 85 accounts were actioned based on the reports received.

WhatsApp explained that "Accounts Actioned" denotes reports where it took remedial action based on the said report.

Taking action denotes either banning an account or a previously banned account being restored as a result of the complaint.

Also, reports may have been reviewed but not included as 'Actioned' for many reasons, including the user needing assistance to access their account or to use some features, user-requested restoration of a banned account and the request denial, or if the reported account does not violate the laws of India or WhatsApp's Terms of Service.

"Safety related grievances pertain to issues that may be about abuse or harmful behaviour on the platform," it said.

The report said that WhatsApp responds to all grievances received except in cases where a complaint is deemed to be a duplicate of a previous ticket.