WhatsApp: 36 lakh malicious accounts banned in India in December

Delhi : In accordance with the new IT Rules 2021, which are being updated to place more duties on social media platforms, WhatsApp, which is owned by Meta, announced on Wednesday that it banned over 36 lakh "bad" accounts in India in the month of December 2022.

3,677,000 WhatsApp accounts were deactivated between December 1 and December 31, with 1,389,000 of those accounts being deactivated proactively, according to the company, before any user complaints.

In December, the messaging app, which has more than 400 million users nationwide, got 1,607 reports of complaints, of which 166 were 'acted upon.

Our report for the month of December 2022 has been published in compliance with the IT Rules 2021. According to the most recent Monthly Report, WhatsApp banned over 3.6 million accounts in December, a representative for WhatsApp said.

Major digital and social media sites with more than 5 million users must provide monthly compliance reports under the updated IT Rules 2021.

The Ministry of Electronics and IT has announced several revisions aimed at defending the rights of "Digital Nagriks" in the meanwhile, as part of a major drive towards an open, safe, trusted, and accountable Internet.

As a result of the revisions, intermediaries are now required by law to make reasonable measures to stop users from submitting such content.