WhatsApp addressed grievances related to abusive or harmful behaviour while Facebook and Instagram looked into content related to a range of topics like impersonation, bullying, nudity, and other issues. The instant messaging app WhatsApp released its first compliance report on July 15 along with Facebook and Instagram, which had released a partial report on July 2. Most notably, the report reveals that WhatsApp banned over 2 million Indian accounts between May and June 2021, which were reported either through its in-app feature or otherwise. Why it matters: WhatsApp has, for quite some time, been a medium of several misinformation campaigns in India including some which have led to mass violence. In relation to this, it is currently engaged in a court battle with the Indian government which wants WhatsApp's end-to-end encryption mechanism weakened to trace the first originator of messages as iterated by the IT Rules. The grievance-redressal mechanisms for Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp involve: Online contact form for Instagram and Facebook Email address of the grievance officer for WhatsApp Physical mail addresses for each grievance officer appointed by WhatsApp and Facebook Details of WhatsApp's compliance report According to WhatsApp's compliance report, the messaging app: Blocked 20,11,000 Indian accounts in the period between May 15 to June 15, 2021, which were reported through its grievance redressal mechanism as well as through a 'report' feature on its app. According to the report, Indian accounts are identified as ones associated with mobile numbers with the country code '+91' preceding them. Acted on…
