WhatsApp Bans Over 2.6M Accounts In A Month In India As Government's New IT Rules Bite

Meta Platforms Inc.'s META instant messaging app WhatsApp has banned more than two million accounts in India. 

What Happened: In accordance with the new IT rules, WhatsApp banned 2.685 million accounts in September in India. On Tuesday, the company announced around 8.72 million accounts were blocked after receiving complaints from users, reported Times Now. In August, the platform banned 2.38 million accounts.

In its latest User Safety Report, the platform said, between Sept. 1 and Sept. 30, a total of 2,685,000 WhatsApp accounts were banned. About 872,000 of these accounts were "proactively banned before any reports from users," according to WhatsApp.

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India's new IT rules, which came into effect in 2021, mandate large digital platforms — with over five million users — to publish monthly compliance reports. They have to mention the details of complaints received and action taken, the report noted. 

Why It's Important: Social media giants have worldwide received flak over hate speech, misinformation, and fake news prevalent on their platforms. Last year, Facebook rolled out feed control features after receiving server backlash for hate speech and misinformation. 

Countries including Japan, the U.S., and the EU have taken some steps to regulate hate speech and misinformation online, according to CFR. 

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