WhatsApp Banned More Than 2.2 Million Indian Accounts in September: Report

Whatsapp also received 560 grievance reports in the same month.

Photo: Accessed by The Quint

Messaging platform WhatsApp banned more than 2.2 million Indian accounts in September, a compliance report revealed, as per news agency PTI. WhatsApp also received 560 grievance reports in the same month, the report further added.

WhatsApp said on Monday, 1 November, that a total of 22,09,000 Indian accounts, identified via a +91 phone number, had been banned in September.

"WhatsApp is an industry leader in preventing abuse, among end-to-end encrypted messaging services. Over the years, we have consistently invested in Artificial Intelligence and other state of the art technology, data scientists and experts, and in processes, in order to keep our users safe on our platform," a WhatsApp spokesperson said, reported PTI.

WhatsApp published its fourth monthly report for the period of 1-30 September in accordance with the IT Rules 2021.

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

WhatsApp also said that it received 560 user reports "spanning across account support (121), ban appeal (309), other support and product support (49 each) and safety (32)" in September, during which "51 accounts were actioned based on the reports received".

"Accounts Actioned" meant taking remedial action based on reports, WhatsApp said. Taking action means either banning an account or restoring a previously banned account.

(With inputs from PTI)