Explained: Why WhatsApp banned 16 lakh Indian users

According to the WhatsApp framework, the app bans an account when it is confident that the user is abusive.

New Delhi, Jun 02: Mobile messaging platform WhatsApp has banned over 16 lakh accounts of Indian users in April to prevent harmful activity on the app, according to the company's monthly disclosure report published on Wednesday, PTI reported.

The company banned 122 accounts based on user complaints while barred 16.66 lakh accounts to prevent harmful activity on the app, according to the disclosure made by the Facebook-owned messaging app for April 2022.

"We are particularly focused on prevention because we believe it is much better to stop harmful activity from happening in the first place than to detect it after harm has occurred," WhatsApp report said.

According to the WhatsApp framework, the app bans an account when it is confident that the user is abusive.

"Our goal is to identify and stop abusive accounts as quickly as possible, which is why identifying these accounts manually is not realistic. Instead, we have advanced machine learning systems that take action to ban accounts, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week," the report said.

The company said it bans the account in several cases, including when an account accumulates negative feedback, such as when other users submit reports or block the account.

The report also said that the app's systems evaluate the account and take appropriate action after negative feedback is reported.

The instant mobile messaging firm also uses machine learning and other analytical tools to detect "highly-motivated abusers" and ban them from the platform.

(PTI)