WhatsApp bans over 47 lakh Indian accounts in March

WhatsApp, which is owned by Meta, banned over 4.7 million accounts in March, a higher number compared to the preceding month.

The Grievance Appellate Committee issued three orders to the platform in March, all of which were complied with.

In February, WhatsApp banned over 4.5 million accounts, 2.9 million accounts in January, 3.6 million accounts in December and 3.7 million accounts in November.

The monthly user-safety report provides details on user complaints and the action taken by the platform, as well as its preventive measures to combat abuse.

Of the total grievances received in March, 4,720 were reported, and 585 accounts were "actioned".

''As captured in the latest Monthly Report, WhatsApp banned over 4.7 million accounts in the month of March,'' according to a WhatsApp spokesperson.

An Indian account is identified via a +91 phone number.

''Between March 1, 2023 and March 31, 2023, 4,715,906 WhatsApp accounts were banned. 1,659,385 of these accounts were proactively banned, before any reports from users,'' the report said.

The IT rules require large digital platforms to publish monthly compliance reports. Some quarters have raised concerns over arbitrary actions by digital platforms in taking down content and 'de-platforming' users.

The Grievance Appellate Committee has been launched as an online dispute resolution mechanism, and users can appeal against the decisions of social media platforms by filing complaints on a new portal.

The GAC, in effect, is an online dispute resolution mechanism, and users aggrieved by a decision of the Grievance Officer of an intermediary, say Meta or Twitter, can file their appeal or complaint through the new portal https://gac.gov.in.