WhatsApp Bans 14.26 Lakh Indian Accounts in February

WhatsApp banned 14.26 lakh Indian accounts in February based on complaints received from users via grievances channel and through its own mechanism to prevent and detect violations, according to a monthly report published by the messaging platform.

As many as 335 grievance reports were received and 21 accounts were "actioned" between February 1 and February 28. Out of the total reports received, 194 pertained to ban appeal while others were in the categories of account support, product support and safety, among others.

"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," the report released on Friday said.

According to the report, 14.26 lakh Indian accounts were banned by WhatsApp in February. An Indian account is identified via a +91 phone number.

"This user-safety report contains details of the user complaints received and the corresponding action taken by WhatsApp as well as WhatsApp's own preventive actions to combat abuse on our platform. As captured in the latest monthly report, WhatsApp banned over 1.4 million accounts in the month of February," WhatsApp spokesperson said in an e-mail.

Over the years, WhatsApp has consistently invested in Artificial Intelligence and other state-of-the-art technology, data scientists and experts, and processes, in order to keep users safe on the platform, the spokesperson added.