In January 2025, Meta’s messaging platform WhatsApp announced in its latest monthly compliance report that it had blocked over 9.9 million accounts in India. This large-scale ban was part of the company’s ongoing efforts to combat spam, fraudulent activities, and other forms of platform misuse.
WhatsApp has a huge responsibility to provide a safe and dependable communication environment for its large user base in India. Prior to user notifications, WhatsApp’s internal systems had already detected and erased almost 1.3 million of the banned accounts.
The reason behind these preventative deletions was that WhatsApp’s systems detected suspicious activity, such as the distribution of mass or automated unwanted messages, the dissemination of misleading information, or the use of contact lists obtained from unauthorized sources.
Within the same time frame in January 2025, 9,474 complaints were filed by WhatsApp users in India against other users, covering a variety of issues such as unwanted spam and account misuse.
The messaging app WhatsApp addressed 239 accounts after carefully reviewing these customer complaints. Both account suspensions and account restorations were part of the response, even in situations where the complaints were proven to be false.
WhatsApp has stated that its actions were in accordance with India’s Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021.
Whenever an account is registered, when it sends a message, and whenever it receives negative reports or blocks, WhatsApp begins monitoring the account. To make the platform’s security even better, a group of human experts looks at hard instances to see how they may be improved.
WhatsApp has long warned that users run a risk of having their accounts permanently suspended if they spread false information, harass others, or participate in illegal activity. Additionally, the company is required by Indian IT laws to publish monthly reports detailing the number of blocked accounts and the types of user complaints. This ensures transparency.