• WhatsApp banned 16.66 lakh Indian accounts for this reason!

    Sci & Tech
    WhatsApp banned 16.66 lakh Indian accounts for this reason!

    As per the WhatsApp protocol, the app will block an account when it determines that a user is abusive. 


    Digital Desk: Messaging app Whatsapp banned over 16 lakh accounts of Indian users in April, the company's monthly disclosure report stated on Wednesday. 


    As per the Facebook-owned messaging app, 122 accounts were banned in response to user complaints, while 16.66 lakh accounts were disabled to prevent malicious activities on the app.


    "We are particularly focused on prevention because we feel it is far preferable to prevent harmful behaviour from occurring in the first place than to discover it after it has occurred," the WhatsApp report stated.


    As per the WhatsApp protocol, the app will block an account when it determines that a user is abusive. 


    "Because our goal is to detect and terminate abusive accounts as rapidly as possible, manually identifying these accounts is not feasible. Instead, we have advanced machine learning systems that respond 24 hours a day, seven days a week to ban accounts," the report said. 


    Further, the company stated that it blocks the accounts in various cases, including when it receives unfavourable feedback, such as when other users report or block the account.


    The report added that after an unfavourable review is submitted, the app's systems examine the account and take necessary measures.


    The instant mobile messaging company uses machine learning and other analytical methods to identify "extremely motivated offenders" and ban them from the site.



    Notably, the company blocked over 18 lakh accounts in March and  14.26 lakh in February. In January, a total of 18.58 lakh Indian accounts were suspended.


    Before that, WhatsApp blocked 20.79 lakh Indian accounts in December 2021 and 17.5 lakh in November.


    Large digital platforms (with more than 50 lakh users) are required to submit a progress report every month, detailing the details of complaints received and actions taken, under new IT guidelines that went into force last year.


    WhatsApp previously stated that it has no visibility into the content of any messages because it is an end-to-end encrypted network.


    To detect and prevent abuse on its platform, it uses public unencrypted information, such as user reports, profile images, group photos, descriptions, as well as advanced AI algorithms and resources, it added.