One of the key factors behind the ban of 20,70,000 accounts is said to be due to the unauthorised use of automated or bulk messages. Over 95 per cent of accounts that are involved in automated messaging face bans in India.

As per the data from WhatsApp’s monthly compliance report, the platform received 420 user reports spanning across account support (105), ban appeal (222), other support (34), product support (42) and safety (17) during August.

WhatsApp took action against 41 accounts out of the 421 reports it received. The company also revealed in its support page that when it gets user complaints via the grievance channel, the messaging service deploys tools and resources to prevent harmful behaviour.

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

WhatsApp had earlier confirmed that it had banned over three million accounts in forty-six days. These accounts are said to have been banned between June 16 and July 31 to prevent online abuse and to ensure safety of the users on the platform.

WhatsApp is said to maintain a record of accounts that have a high rate of messages and bans millions of such accounts attempting this kind of abuse.