According to the IT (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021, Meta-owned WhatsApp said that it blocked more than 7.9 million accounts in India during March. Out of these, nearly 1.43 million accounts were blocked before any reported cases, as quoted in the company's monthly compliance report for the period March 1 to March 31.
There were 12,782 complaint complaints received by the messaging network, which has over 500 million users in India, in March. Of those, 11 records were "actioned."
Such actions may include either banning an account or reinstating a previously banned account in response to the complaint received.
“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 company said.
Earlier, in February (February 1-29), WhatsApp recorded the banning of nearly 7.63 million accounts, with nearly 1.42 million being blocked ahead of any user reports.
While stressing its safety measures, WhatsApp used a multidisciplinary team consisting of engineers, data scientists, analysts, researchers, and law enforcement and online safety experts, among others, to ensure that the various safety features and controls in place on the platform are effective.
Read also | Apple's Impressive Growth in India Spurs Increased Local Production, Says Tim Cook
