The instant messaging service WhatsApp reported on Wednesday that it banned 37.16 lakh accounts in India in November, or 60% more than it had done the month before.
9.9 lakh WhatsApp accounts in India were blocked proactively before being reported by users.
23.24 lakh accounts in the nation were blocked by WhatsApp in October, including 8.11 lakh accounts that were proactively blocked.
“Between 1 Nov, 2022 and 30 Nov, 2022, 3,716,000 WhatsApp accounts were banned. 990,000 of these accounts were proactively banned, before any reports from users. An Indian account is identified via a +91 phone number,” WhatsApp said in its India Monthly Report for November published under the Information Technology Rules 2021.
Large digital platforms (with more than 50 lakh users) are required by the stricter IT regulations, which went into effect last year, to produce compliance reports each month that include information about complaints received and actions taken.
Large social media companies have faced criticism in the past for the fake news, hate speech, and disinformation that circulated on their platforms. Concerns about digital platforms acting arbitrarily in removing information and “de-platforming” people have often been raised by some sectors.
Last Monday, the government unveiled regulations for establishing a grievance appeal process against the arbitrary content moderation, inaction, or takedown choices of major tech firms.
In comparison to October, WhatsApp received more user requests to ban accounts in November.
Users complained to it 946 times in November, and 830 of those complaints resulted in account bans. It only affected 73 accounts.
Except in situations when a complaint is regarded to be a duplicate of an earlier ticket, WhatsApp said it replies to every complaint received.
According to the study, an account is “actioned” when it is banned or when one that has already been suspended gets reinstated as a result of a complaint.
According to the research, WhatsApp employs tools and resources to stop harmful behaviour on the network in addition to listening to and taking action on user concerns through the grievance channel.
