WhatsApp banned over 7 million accounts in November over policy violation

WhatsApp in a statement said it had received eight orders from India's GAC and all orders were complied with. GAC was formed in February last year to address concerns related to social media platforms

Meta-owned instant messaging platform WhatsApp banned more than 7.1 million user accounts in the month of November 2023. In its India Monthly Report published on January 1, WhatsApp disclosed that 7,196,000 accounts were banned between November 1 and November 30. Of these, 1,954,000 were banned proactively, before they were reported by users.

The monthly report stated that a total of 8,841 user reports were filed with the grievance officer, out of which 4,613 were raised to ban accounts. WhatsApp said it had received eight orders from India’s Grievance Appellate Committee (GAC) and it had complied with all orders. GAC was formed in February last year by the Ministry of State for Electronics and Information Technology to address concerns related to social media platforms.

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WhatsApp said that it uses its prevention and detection methods in case of violation of WhatsApp’s Terms and Services, and acts on orders received from the Grievance Appellate Committee as part of their grievance mechanisms. In addition to responding to and taking actions on user complaints through the grievance channel, WhatsApp said, it deploys tools and resources to prevent harmful behaviour on the platform. WhatsApp said its detection for abuse operates at three stages – at registration, during messaging, and in response to negative feedback in the form of reports and blocks. After an account is reported, a team of analysts evaluates these cases and suggests necessary actions.

In November last year, WhatsApp launched a ‘Check the Facts’ safety campaign to create awareness around the safety tools and features available on the platform, aiming to curb the spread of misinformation. The campaign highlighted the built-in features such as block and report tools, forward labels on messages so that the user can spot and act on misinformation and prevent its circulation.