WhatsApp bans 30 lakh accounts; Here are details on how this happened

"This report captures information for the period from June 16, 2021 to July 31, 2021. 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," the report stated.

Hyderabad: In accordance with the new IT Rules notified by the government, popular messaging app WhatsApp has banned over 30 lakh accounts. In a report explaining the nature of the ban, the Facebook-owned messaging app says these accounts have been banned taking into consideration the grievances received from users in India and accounts that needed action through its detection and prevention methods.

“This report captures information for the period from June 16, 2021 to July 31, 2021. 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,” the report stated.

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Which numbers are considered?
An Indian account identified via a +91 phone number.

How are the grievances received?
There are two methods to capture grievances:

Emails sent to grievance_officer_wa@support.whatsapp.com regarding violations of WhatsApp’s terms of service, or questions about accounts on WhatsApp, published in the Help Centre

Mails sent to the India Grievance Officer via post.

What kind of request did it receive?
The company received 594 reports from the above-mentioned channels. Out of this, it received 316 ban appeal requests, 137 account support requests, 45 other support, 64 product support and 32 safety support requests.

Out of the requests received, only 74 accounts were taken action which denotes ‘remedial action based on the report. Taking action denotes either banning an account or a previously banned account being restored as a result of the complaint,’ it said.

Some reports have been reviewed but not included as ‘actioned’ due to the following reasons:
○ The user requires assistance from WhatsApp to access their account.
○ The user requires assistance to use one of its features.
○ The user is writing to get feedback regarding our service.
○ The user requests restoration of a banned account and the request is denied.
○ The reported account does not violate the laws of India or WhatsApp’s Terms of Service.

The report is published in accordance with Rule 4(1)(d) of the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021.