Banned 2 mn accounts in India: WhatsApp report on new IT rules
Darpan News Desk IANS, 15 Jul, 2021 11:01 AM
New Delhi, July 15 (IANS) Facebook-owned WhatsApp on Thursday filed its first monthly grievance redressal report as required under India's new IT norms, saying it banned two million accounts in India alone from the May 15-June 15 period attempting to send harmful or unwanted messages at scale.
More than 95 per cent of such bans are due to the unauthorised use of automated or bulk messaging, the company said in a statement.
In the report, released in line with the requirements of India's Intermediary Guidelines, 2021, WhatsApp said that user reports received by the platform via the grievance channels are evaluated and responded to.
"Our top focus is preventing accounts from sending harmful or unwanted messages at scale. We maintain advanced capabilities to identify these accounts sending a high or abnormal rate of messages," the company said.
"Majority of users who reach out to us are either aiming to have their account restored following an action to ban them or reaching out for product or account support," it added.
WhatsApp last week accepted that "the government is the administrator" in its case and informed the Delhi High Court that it will put its privacy policy update "on hold" until the Data Protection Bill came into force.
This is a significant development after the new Information Technology Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw made it crystal clear within minutes of taking charge that "law of the land is supreme" and no one can afford to disrespect it.
WhatsApp's counsel also accepted that its commitment is "we need to fit in the law".
Facebook, Google and Twitter have already submitted their monthly compliance reports.
The Chief of Army Staff (COAS), General M.M. Naravane, reached Kashmir on Wednesday on a two-day visit to review the prevailing security situation in the Union Territory (UT), the army said in a statement.
"There have been several unfounded media reports that have peddled misinformation among the masses regarding this exercise of national importance," a ministry statement said, adding that the total number of Covid vaccine doses administered in the country so far stand at 21,85,46,667.
The Congress said that it was "appropriate for our initial statement to note that the intrusion by Israeli forces into the Holy Al Aqsa mosque during Ramzan prayers had ruptured the delicate peace in the region".
The Delhi High Court on Tuesday suggested the young patients should be prioritised in the distribution of Liposomal Amphotericin B drug, used for treating black fungus, "as they hold promise of future over the older ones who have lived their lives".
Giving information about the cases of black fungus, Kejriwal said nearly 944 cases of black fungus have been reported in Delhi, of these nearly 300 patients are being treated in various Central government-run hospitals here.
