According to the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021, WhatsApp has published its May monthly report. There have been nearly 19 million Indian users permanently banned from the messaging app in the past month, according to the most recent available data. This most recent report covers the time frame of 1 May 2022 through 31 May 2022.
An official WhatsApp representative said in response to the latest monthly report, “In compliance with the IT Rules 2021, we’ve issued our report for the month of May 2022. Details about user complaints and WhatsApp’s responses, as well as WhatsApp’s own preventative measures to address abuse on the network, are included in this user-safety report. The most recent Monthly Report reveals that during the month of May, WhatsApp suspended over 1.9 million user accounts.
“When it comes to end-to-end encrypted messaging systems, WhatsApp is far and away the top in preventing misuse. “We have constantly invested in Artificial Intelligence and other state-of-the-art technologies, data scientists and experts, and processes to keep our customers secure on our platform,” the statement continued.
Still, it’s unclear why WhatsApp terminated these accounts and what the affected individuals should do next.
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In any case, WhatsApp has already made it clear that violations of the company’s regulations and standards are the primary reason accounts are banned. By way of illustration, if a user is involved in disseminating misinformation or sending an unconfirmed message to several contacts, WhatsApp will terminate their account. The messaging service has implemented many measures—including the verification of external links—to combat the occurrence of similar incidents. As most forwarded communications are likely to be hoaxes, the messaging service flags them as such.
Furthermore, WhatsApp uses many resources and methods to curb abusive conduct. We feel it is preferable to avoid hazardous behaviour before it occurs rather than to identify it after the fact, therefore that is why we place a premium on prevention. At registration, during messaging, and in reaction to negative feedback, which we get in the form of user complaints and bans, the company’s abuse detection system is active, as mentioned in the report. WhatsApp also said that “analysts supplement these tools to examine edge scenarios and assist increase our performance over time.”
There have been rumours and leaks that WhatsApp is working on a feature that would allow users to unban themselves from the service. The messaging service has not yet provided any evidence of this capacity.
