WhatsApp has disclosed that it banned over 7.1 million accounts in India during the month of November last year, according to its recent monthly report. The messaging application, owned by Meta, reported that more than 1.9 million accounts were banned proactively, meaning the company took preventive action prior to receiving any user complaints regarding policy breaches. Additionally, the platform addressed a total of over 8,000 user grievances in the same month, as stated in the report.
In compliance with the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules of 2021, WhatsApp published its latest report, explaining that a total of 7,196,000 accounts were banned between November 1 and November 30. These accounts were registered using phone numbers with the +91 international prefix.
The report indicates that 1,954,000 of the banned accounts were identified via proactive measures, without requiring user reports of policy violations. While users have the capability to report problematic accounts, WhatsApp also utilizes internal systems to automatically detect and respond to potential abuse.
According to current regulations, WhatsApp collects grievances through emails directed to grievance_officer_wa@support.whatsapp.com, as well as physical mail sent to the India Grievance Officer. The company notes that reports typically involve account assistance, inquiries about feature access, service feedback, and appeals regarding banned accounts or accounts presumed not to violate company policies or Indian law.
To adhere to the IT Rules of 2021, WhatsApp reported taking action on six requests made to its Grievance Officer — one concerning appeals against bans, while the others pertained to various support inquiries. In November 2023, the company processed a total of 8,841 grievances and complied with eight orders issued by the Grievance Appellate Committee within the same time frame.
