WhatsApp says it banned nearly 46 lakh Indian accounts in February

According to the IT rules, digital platforms with more than five million users have to publish compliance reports every month.

Updated on: Apr 1, 2023, 20:05:49 IST

By HT News Desk | Edited by Aryan Prakash

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Messaging app WhatsApp on Saturday said it banned 45.97 lakh Indian accounts in February for violating its guidelines. In its India Monthly Report under the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021, the Meta-owned platform listed the accounts actioned in the month of February. It is more than 29.18 lakh accounts banned in the month of January.

“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 4.5 million accounts in the month of February”, a spokesperson for WhatsApp said in a statement.

According to the IT rules, digital platforms with more than five million users have to publish compliance reports every month, in which they have to mention details of the complaints received and action taken.

In recent times, social media platforms including WhatsApp have faced criticism over hate speech, fake news and other misinformation circulating on them.

WhatsApp had banned 29.18 lakh Indian accounts in January this year.

Also, there has been outcry by some quarters from time to time over the digital platforms' arbitrary stand over pulling down hate content and misinformation and banning such users.

The Centre has launched the Grievance Appellate Committee which helps the users to appeal against the decisions by social media platforms.

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HT News Desk
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