Instant messaging agency WhatsApp banned 26.85 lakh accounts in India in September, together with 8.72 lakh accounts that have been constantly blocked earlier than being flagged by customers, the corporate stated on Tuesday.
The variety of accounts blocked in September was 15 per cent larger than the 23.28 lakh accounts of the banned messaging platform in August.
“Between September 1, 2022 and September 30, 2022, 2,685,000 WhatsApp accounts were banned. Before any reports from users, 872,000 of these accounts were actively banned. An Indian account is identified through +91 phone number,” WhatsApp stated in its ‘User Security Report’ for the month of September.
Stringent IT rules that got here into drive final yr mandate massive digital platforms (with over 50 lakh customers) to publish compliance stories each month, detailing complaints obtained and motion taken.
Large social media companies have up to now drawn criticism over hate speech, misinformation and pretend information circulating on their platforms. Concerns have been repeatedly expressed by some quarters that digital platforms are appearing arbitrarily in knocking down content material, and ‘de-platforming’ customers.
The authorities final week introduced guidelines for establishing complaints enchantment mechanisms in opposition to arbitrary content material moderation, inaction or takedown choices by huge tech corporations.
According to the most recent WhatsApp report, the platform obtained 666 complaints in September however motion was taken in opposition to solely 23.
“In addition to responding to and taking action on user complaints through the complaints channel, WhatsApp also deploys tools and resources to prevent harmful behavior on the platform. We are particularly focused on prevention because we believe it is better to prevent harmful activity from occurring in the first place than to detect it after the damage has occurred,” the corporate stated.
With inputs from TheIndianEXPRESS