In compliance with India’s IT rules, WhatsApp, owned by Meta, has reported banning 7.11 million accounts during the month of September, as detailed in its latest India monthly report.
Out of this substantial number, 2.57 million accounts were proactively banned, even before receiving any reports from users. WhatsApp identifies Indian accounts using the ‘+91’ country code.
The report states, “Between September 1, 2023, and September 30, 2023, 7,111,000 WhatsApp accounts were banned. 2,571,000 of these accounts were proactively banned before any reports from users.”
This “user-safety report” contains information about user complaints and the corresponding actions taken by WhatsApp, as well as the platform’s own preventive measures against abuse.
During September, WhatsApp received six orders from the Grievance Appellate Committee, and all six orders were promptly complied with.
It’s worth noting that in August, WhatsApp banned 7.4 million accounts, and 3.5 million of those accounts were proactively banned.
The report also reveals that during September, WhatsApp received a total of 10,442 user reports, covering various categories such as account support (1,031), ban appeals (7,396), other support (1,518), product support (370), and safety concerns (127).
As a result of these reports, action was taken on 85 accounts. “Accounts Actioned” indicates reports where remedial action was taken, either by banning an account or restoring a previously banned account based on the complaint. Some reports might have been reviewed but not classified as “Actioned” for various reasons, such as users needing assistance to access their account or to use certain features, user-requested restoration of a banned account (which was denied), or if the reported account was found not to violate Indian laws or WhatsApp’s Terms of Service.
The report specifies that “safety-related grievances pertain to issues that may be about abuse or harmful behavior on the platform.”
WhatsApp’s commitment is to respond to all grievances received, except in cases where a complaint is considered a duplicate of a previous ticket.