WhatsApp has filed its first monthly grievance report as required under India’s new IT norms, saying it banned two million accounts in India from the May 15 to June 15 attempting to send harmful or unwanted messages.
More than 95% of bans are due to the unauthorised use of bulk messaging, the company said. In the report, released in line with the requirements of India’s Intermediary Guidelines, 2021, WhatsApp said that user reports received by the platform via the grievance channels are evaluated and responded to.
The company said, “Our top focus is preventing accounts from sending harmful or unwanted messages at scale. We maintain advanced capabilities to identify these accounts sending a high or abnormal rate of messages.” Adding it said, “Majority of users who reach out to us are either aiming to have their account restored following an action to ban them or reaching out for product or account support.”
WhatsApp last week accepted that “the government is the administrator” in its case and informed the Delhi High Court that it will put its privacy policy update “on hold” until the Data Protection Bill came into force.
This is a significant development after the new IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw made it clear within minutes of taking charge that “law of the land is supreme” and no one can afford to disrespect it. WhatsApp’s counsel also accepted that its commitment is “we need to fit in the law”.
Facebook, Google and Twitter have already submitted their monthly compliance reports.