WhatsApp blocked 2 million accounts of Indian users in a month to prevent harmful behavior, the company said in its first-ever compliance report published under the country’s strict new information technology rules.
India implemented new rules in May to regulate social media companies, forcing them to disclose each month their efforts to police their platforms. “We maintain advanced capabilities to identify these accounts sending a high or abnormal rate of messages and banned two million accounts in India alone from May 15 to June 15 attempting this kind of abuse,” WhatsApp said in its report released late Thursday.
The company said its top focus remains on preventing the spread of harmful and unwanted messages. WhatsApp has more than 400m users in India, one of its top markets has often found itself facing criticism over the spread of misinformation. Dozens of people were lynched in India in 2018 following rumors spread on WhatsApp about gangs stealing children.
The Facebook-owned messaging App said that more than 95% of the two (2) million accounts blocked between May 15 and June 15 were banned “due to unauthorized use of automated or bulk-messaging”. “These numbers have increased significantly since 2019 because our systems have increased in sophistication,” the company said in a statement Thursday. “Keep in mind, we ban the vast majority of these accounts proactively, without relying on any user reports.”
In 2018, the servicebegan restricting the ability of users worldwide to forward messages after viral hoaxes on its platform were blamed for a spate of mob violence in India. The company blocks 8 million accounts globally per month on average, it is said in a statement.
WhatsApp and some Indian media firms have sought to challenge the new social media rules in court. Critics say the government is seeking to crush dissent but the government says it is attempting to make social media safer.
Under the rules, social media platforms have to share details of the ‘first originator’ of posts deemed to undermine India’s sovereignty, state security, and public order.
WhatsApp says the rules violate India’s privacy laws.
