WhatsApp banned over 2 million accounts in the country, according to the messaging app's latest compliance report under the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021. for June 2021. Under the report, the company notes that it overturned such bans on 64 accounts, in response to reports sent to its Grievance Officer, during the same period. 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. Why it matters? 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 632 user grievances through email or post to its Grievance Officer. Out of this, most of which were for ban appeals where it restored 64 accounts. Apart from this there were 123 reports for 'account support'. According to WhatsApp, it does not respond to user reports received requiring help in accessing user accounts, app features, or if they are simply providing feedback for the app. While these could classify as reports for 'account support' and 'product support' categories, the report says that…
