Meta-owned WhatsApp banned 71.1 lakh accounts during September in compliance with the IT Rules, according to the latest India monthly report released by the popular messaging platform.

Out of them, 25.7 lakh accounts were proactively banned before any reports from users. An Indian account is identified via the ‘+91’ country code..

“Between 1 September 2023 and 30 September 2023, 71,11,000 WhatsApp accounts were banned. 25,71,000 of these accounts were proactively banned, before any reports from users,” a PTI report quoted the company as saying.

The ‘user-safety report’ contains details of user complaints received and the corresponding action taken by WhatsApp as well as WhatsApp’s preventive actions to combat abuse on the platform.

Between September 1-30, the platform received six orders from the Grievance Appellate Committee, according to the report, and all six orders were complied with.

WhatsApp had banned 74 lakh accounts in August and out of them, 35 lakh accounts had been proactively banned.

WhatsApp, in its latest report, said it received 10,442 user reports spanning across account support (1,031), ban appeal (7,396), other support (1,518), product support (370), and safety (127) during September.

During this period, 85 accounts were actioned based on the reports received.

WhatsApp explained that “Accounts Actioned” denotes reports where it took remedial action based on the said report.

Taking action denotes either banning an account or a previously banned account being restored as a result of the complaint.