WhatsApp Bans 6.6 Million Indian Accounts In May For Violation Of Laws

Meta in a statement said that out of 6,620,000 accounts that were banned, 1,255,000 were proactively blocked, before any reports from users.

WhatsApp banned more than 71 lakh accounts in the country in the month of April. (Image Source: Unsplash/@ Rachit Tank)

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WhatsApp is probably the most commonly used instant messaging platform in India. Every generation is on this app to communicate with their loved ones better. Forget about parents or children, there must be a number of people whose even grandparents would be on the instant messaging platform. With such a huge user base comes the responsibility to regulate it and offer a smooth and safe user experience to the people. Meta often issues releases in which it reveals how many WhatsApp accounts are getting blocked due to the violation of laws. This time, Meta banned 6,620,000 accounts in total in the month of May. 

Meta in a statement said that out of 6,620,000 accounts that were banned, 1,255,000 were proactively blocked, before any reports from users. WhatsApp has more than 550 million users in India and it received 13,367 grievances from the country, before taking this step. According to the records, only 31 cases were 'actioned'. The account 'Actioned' in simpler words means those complaints where WhatsApp took remedial action.

According to the monthly compliance report, as per the new Indian IT Rules 2021, WhatsApp also received 11 orders from the Grievance Appellate Committee in India and it complied with them.

The company said, “We will continue with transparency to our work and include information about our efforts in future reports.”

If we talk about April then WhatsApp banned more than 71 lakh accounts in the country in the month of April. It received 10,554 complaint reports in March, and the records “actioned” were 11. It said, “We enable users to block contacts and to report problematic content and contacts to us from inside the app. We pay close attention to user feedback and engage with specialists in stemming misinformation, promoting cybersecurity, and preserving election integrity.”