WhatsApp banned over 66 lakh accounts in India in May

Meta-owned WhatsApp on Monday said it banned more than 66 lakh accounts in India in the month of May for violating the laws of the land.

Out of 6,620,000 banned WhatsApp accounts, 1,255,000 were proactively blocked, before any reports from users, the social media company said in a statement.

The popular mobile messaging platform, which has more than 550 million users in India, received 13,367 grievances from the country, and the records "actioned" were just 31.

The account "Actioned" means complaints where WhatsApp took remedial action.

WhatsApp also received 11 orders from the Grievance Appellate Committee in the country and complied with both, according to its monthly compliance report as per the new Indian IT Rules 2021.

"We will continue with transparency to our work and include information about our efforts in future reports," said the company.

For April, the Meta-owned platform banned more than 71 lakh accounts in the country.

The platform received a record 10,554 complaint reports in March, and the records "actioned" were 11.

The company employs a team of engineers, data scientists, analysts, researchers, and experts in law enforcement, online safety, and technology developments to oversee these efforts.

"We enable users to block contacts and to report problematic content and contacts to us from inside the app. We pay close attention to user feedback and engage with specialists in stemming misinformation, promoting cybersecurity, and preserving election integrity," said WhatsApp.