Meta-owned WhatsApp banned more than 65 lakh bad accounts in India in May, by the new IT Rules 2021.

Between May 1 and May 31, 6,508,000 WhatsApp accounts were banned, with 2,420,700 of these accounts being banned proactively, prior to any reports from users in the country.

WhatsApp, which has over 500 million users in India, banned a record-breaking 74 lakh bad accounts in April, IANS reported from New Delhi.

In May, the country’s most popular messaging platform received 3,912 grievance reports such as “ban appeals,” with 297 records “actioned.”

“Accounts Actioned” reports indicate that WhatsApp took corrective action based on the report, with action indicating either the banning of an account or the restoration of a previously banned account.

“This user-safety report contains details of user complaints received and corresponding action taken by WhatsApp, as well as WhatsApp’s preventive actions to combat abuse on our platform,” the company says.

To empower millions of Indian social media users, the Centre recently established the Grievance Appellate Committee (GAC), which will investigate complaints about content and other issues.

The newly formed panel will investigate user appeals against social media platform decisions as part of a move to strengthen the country’s digital laws to tame the Big Tech companies.

In a major push towards an open, safe, trusted, and accountable Internet, the Ministry of Electronics and IT has notified some amendments aimed at protecting the rights of ‘Digital Nagriks’.