New Delhi: WhatsApp, owned by Meta, announced that it took action against over 79 lakh accounts in India during March in accordance with the IT (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021, as per an IANS report.
During the period of March 1-31, a total of 7,954,000 WhatsApp accounts were banned, with 1,430,000 of these being proactively banned without user reports, the company noted in its monthly compliance report.
The messaging service, boasting over 500 million users in India, received a record 12,782 complaint reports in March, leading to 11 actions taken.
“Accounts Actioned” refers to instances where WhatsApp took remedial steps based on complaints, either by banning accounts or restoring previously banned accounts.
“We address all complaints received, unless they are deemed duplicates. An account is ‘actioned’ when it is banned or restored based on a complaint,” explained the company.
In February (1-29), the platform had banned 7,628,000 accounts, with 1,424,000 proactively banned.
In addition to safety features and controls, WhatsApp stated, “We have a team of engineers, data scientists, analysts, researchers, and experts in law enforcement and online safety overseeing these efforts.”
