In one month, WhatsApp blocked 2 million Indian accounts for mass-sending harmful texts.

New Delhi: Between May 15 and June 15, the Facebook-owned messaging and calling app WhatsApp blocked at least two million Indian accounts. The company revealed the information in its first monthly compliance report, as required by IT regulations. According to the new IT rules, large digital platforms with more than five million users must publish compliance reports every month, detailing the details of complaints received and actions taken.

The company clarified that of the total accounts blocked, more than 95% of them were banned due to the unauthorised use of automated or bulk messaging (spam). “Our primary goal is to prevent accounts from sending harmful or unwanted messages on a large scale. We anticipate that subsequent editions of the report will be published 30-45 days after the reporting period to allow for adequate data collection and validation “According to the report, WhatsApp.

The company also stated that the number of accounts banned has increased significantly since 2019 as a result of the tightening of restrictions. On a monthly basis, the company bans approximately eight million accounts worldwide.

WhatsApp stated that, in addition to behavioural signals from accounts, it relies on ‘unencrypted information’ such as user reports, profile photos, group photos, and descriptions, as well as advanced AI tools and resources, to detect and prevent abuse on its platform. According to the report, WhatsApp received 345 reports in total, spanning categories such as ban appeal, account support, product support, safety issues, and others.

The majority of users who contact WhatsApp are looking to have their account restored after being banned, or they are looking for product or account support, according to the company.

‘Accounts Actioned’ reports indicate that WhatsApp took corrective action based on the report. Taking action means either banning an account or restoring a previously banned account as a result of the complaint.

The IT rules, which went into effect on May 26, require that major digital platforms include the number of specific communication links or parts of information that they proactively remove using automated tools.

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