WhatsApp banned 2M Indian accounts between May 15-June 15, complying with new IT rules

Acting upon the new IT rules, social media messaging platform- WhatsApp on Thursday, July 15, submitted its monthly report informing that it banned two million Indian accounts mostly due to spam messaging. The report submitted by the messaging application also added that it received 345 grievance reports between May 15 and June 15. According to the new IT rules, digital platforms with more than five million users will have to submit a monthly compliance report with details of received complaints and action taken against it. 

While justifying the action, Whatsapp in its official release said that the action was taken to prevent accounts from sending harmful messages. 

“Our top focus is preventing accounts from sending harmful or unwanted messages at scale. We maintain advanced capabilities to identify these accounts sending a high or abnormal rate of messages and banned 2 million accounts in India alone from May 15-June 15 attempting this kind of abuse,” added WhatsApp. 

What WhatsApp said

According to the application, these accounts were largely banned proactively as the platform enhanced the sophistication of its system. The company also explained that the number of accounts banned has risen significantly since 2019. About eight million accounts are banned/disabled globally on an average per month, added WhatsApp. 

"We expect to publish subsequent editions of the report 30-45 days after the reporting period to allow sufficient time for data collection and validation," said WhatsApp in its statement. 

On what basis WhatsApp takes the action of banning

Apart from the complaints from users appealing ban of certain users, WhatsApp also relies on its available "unencrypted information" that shows user reports, profile photos, group photos, and descriptions as well as advanced AI tools and resources to detect and prevent abuse on its platform. Majorly, users either reach out to WhatsApp requesting restoration of their accounts or to register complaints against an account, added the application's report. 

New IT rules

These new IT rules came into effect on May 26, 2021 with an aim to prevent abuse and misuse of the digital platform. Other platforms including Google, Koo, and Twitter have already submitted their reports. Under these rules, social media companies will have to take down flagged content within 36 hours, and remove nudity and pornographic content within 24 hours of complaint. The rules also mandate the appointment of a grievance officer, chief compliance officer and nodal officer in India to take action on the grievances.