WhatsApp bans 22 lakh Indian accounts in June

WhatsApp has banned more than 22 lakh Indian accounts in June this year on the basis of complaints received via its grievance redressal channel and through its own mechanism to detect violations, according to the messaging platform.

This is higher than 19 lakh such accounts banned by WhatsApp in May, 16 lakh accounts in April, and 18.05 lakh such accounts in March.

The new, tougher IT rules, which went into force last year, mandate large digital platforms (with over 50 lakh users) to publish compliance reports every month, mentioning the details of complaints received and action taken, reports our New Delhi correspondent.

Big social media firms have drawn flak in the past over hate speech, misinformation, and fake news circulating on their platforms. At the same time, concerns have also been flagged over digital platforms acting arbitrarily in pulling down content, and "de-platforming" users.

"As captured in the latest monthly report, WhatsApp banned over 2.2 million accounts in the month of June," WhatsApp spokesperson said as the Meta-owned platform published its latest monthly update.

The Indian government is in process of formulating new social media rules that propose to give users a grievance appeal mechanism against arbitrary content moderation, inaction, or takedown decisions of big tech companies.