Popular instant messaging platform WhatsApp banned over 2 million accounts linked to Indian numbers in December 2021, according to its latest compliance report. In the same month, WhatsApp restored 23 banned accounts in response to requests made by users through its grievance officer. Under the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021, social media intermediaries, like WhatsApp, have to publish monthly compliance reports showing the number of grievances received as well as the amount of content that was proactively detected and taken down. WhatsApp has become a medium for the spread of misinformation in India, according to several news reports. A recent investigation also reported that there was a proliferation of inauthentic behaviour among its users. Data from compliance reports give an indication of WhatsApp's content moderation efforts in India. User grievances received over safety issues and ban appeals According to the report, WhatsApp received 528 user grievances through email or post to its grievance officer. Out of this, it responded to 34 grievances, most of which were ban appeals while one fell under the category of 'Other support'. It denotes requests which cannot be consistently classified otherwise, the report said. In November, WhatsApp had received 602 grievances from Indian users, and it responded to 36 of them - all of which appealed bans imposed on accounts. Here's a category-wise breakdown of all grievances: [caption id="attachment_155473" align="aligncenter" width="402"] Source: WhatsApp compliance report[/caption] User grievances related to product support and safety are redirected to the app's in-built reporting feature…
