WhatsApp, a Meta-owned instant messaging platform, reportedly banned more than 79 lakh accounts in India in March 2024, in compliance with the IT (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021.
Between the March 1-31 period, around 7,954,000 WhatsApp accounts were banned and 1,430,000 of these accounts were proactively banned before any reports from users surfaced- the company stated in its monthly compliance report.
The instant messaging platform, which has more than 500 million users in India, received a record 12,782 complaint reports in March 2024 in the country, and the records ‘actioned’ were 11.
“Accounts Actioned” means reports where WhatsApp took remedial action based on the plaint and taking action denotes either banning an account or a previously banned account being restored as a result.
The company said, “We respond to all grievances received except in cases where a grievance is deemed to be a duplicate of a previous ticket. An account is ‘actioned’ when an account is banned or a previously banned account is restored, as a result of a complaint.”
Between February 1-29, the company had banned “7,628,000 accounts”.
About 1,424,000 of these accounts were proactively banned, before any reports from users.
According to the company, in addition to safety features and controls, “We employ a team of engineers, data scientists, analysts, researchers, and experts in law enforcement, online safety, and technology developments to oversee these efforts.”
Recently, the company further announced the updation of the WhatsApp Channels feature from the instant messaging platform which started operating worldwide in September 2023. As per the new update, the Channels feature would enable the users to send messages to a larger group of people,- which will help them to add several new and improved updates, for a more engaging platform.
WhatsApp is also testing a new feature which will help increase engagement on the platform. The report further says, that the instant messaging app has been testing the ‘Recently Online’ contact feature which will be available on the chat list.
The feature will show the user's contacts who were online recently and are available for interaction. The feature is rolling out with the latest version of WhatsApp beta for iOS.
ALSO READ: CMF Buds Review: Budget-friendly TWS with premium feel
Inputs from IANS
