Facebook-owned instant messenger WhatsApp said on Thursday that it blocked over two million accounts in India in May and June for violating rules.
On Thursday, the service released its first monthly report in compliance with the new Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code, also known as the IT Rules, 2021. WhatsApp said 95% of these users were blocked for violating the limits of the number of times messages can be forwarded in India.
The messaging service having about 400 million users in India said its “top focus” has been to prevent accounts in India from sending harmful or unwanted messages at scale.
Using advanced machine learning technology, WhatsApp reportedly bans close to eight million accounts across the world every month.
Two million accounts in India sending a “high and abnormal rate of messages” were banned in India alone between 15 May and 15 June, the service said.
The service identifies an Indian account as one with a +91 (country code) phone number. The social media platform often ends up being the focus of discussions on the spread of misinformation and fake news in India.
Such fake news and hoaxes are forwarded to tens of thousands of users in hours, and it’s practically impossible to counter them.
The report said that messages and videos circulating in bulk have in the past incited mob violence in India, even leading to deaths.
In addition to responding to user complaints, WhatsApp said it deployed its own tools to prevent abuse on the platform.
It said it relied on the “behavioural signals” from user accounts, or on available “unencrypted information”, profile and group photos, and descriptions to identify potential offenders.
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