3mn Indian WhatsApp accounts banned between mid-June to July-end

New Delhi, Aug 31 : Instant messaging platform WhatsApp on Tuesday announced that it has banned over 3 million Indian accounts in the 46-day period from June 16 to July 31.

It received 137 reports for account support, of which one was actioned, and 316 requests to ban accounts, the messaging giant said in its second compliance report under the new Information Technology Rules, 2021.

"Indian accounts actioned through our prevention and detection methods, for violating the laws of India or WhatsApp's Terms of Service and user-reports or grievances received, through 2 channels e-mail grievance_officer_wa@support.whatsapp.com regarding violations of WhatsApp's terms of service, or questions about accounts on WhatsApp, published in the help center or, mails received by the India Grievance Officer via post," the company said in a statement.

All grievances received from users in India via the grievance mechanisms are evaluated and responded to.

Overall, more than 95 per cent of such bans in India are due to the unauthorized use of automated or bulk messaging ('Spam'). These number have also increased significantly since 2019 because our systems have increased in sophistication, the firm said.

In its first compliance report, which covered the time between May 15 and June 15, WhatsApp had said it banned 2 million Indian users.

In July, search engine giant Google said that it removed over 1.5 lakh pieces of content based on complaints received in May and June, and over 98 per cent of these were related to copyright.