WhatsApp Bans Over 2 Million Indian Accounts - Here's Why

According to the latest media reports, WhatsApp has revealed that it banned approximately 2 million Indian accounts in October this year. According to WhatsApp’s fifth monthly compliance report, the company’s abuse detection technology blocked 20,69,000 Indian accounts between October 1 and October 31.

However, this figure is less than the banned accounts in September 2021. Whatsapp banned more than 2.2 million accounts in September because they received 500 complaints from users, which were categorised as follows: 248 ban appeals, 146 account support, 42 other support, 53 product support, and 11 safety.

Based on the 500 reports, 18 accounts were processed under the ban appeal category. “Accounts Actioned” implies reports where it took curative action based on the reports. Whatsapp has been publishing information on banned accounts since the month of July this year, as per the IT (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021.

Whatsapp stated that: "In accordance with the IT Rules 2021, we’ve published our fifth monthly report for the month of October. 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."

"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. As captured in the latest monthly report, WhatsApp banned over 2 million accounts in the month of October."