WhatsApp banned over 9.8 million accounts in India in June 2025. Millions of these users were removed due to platform misuse, fake news, and spam activities. The company took this action under the Digital Media Ethics Code 2021.
WhatsApp: The country's most popular instant messaging app, WhatsApp, has once again taken major action, banning over 9.8 million Indian user accounts in June 2025. The company shared this information in its recently released monthly compliance report. This move is seen as a b action against increasing illegal activities, fake news, and rule violations on the platform.
What is the matter?
Meta-owned WhatsApp banned 9,829,000 accounts in India during the month of June. Of these, approximately 1.979 million accounts were reported by users themselves. The remaining accounts were identified by WhatsApp's automated abuse detection system, and necessary action was taken. The company claims that most of the banned accounts were involved in either spam messaging, false information, or platform abuse-related activities. This action was taken under the Government of India's Digital Media Ethics Code, 2021, which requires social media platforms to issue monthly transparency reports.
More than 16,000 users complained
WhatsApp received a total of 23,596 complaints from users in June, of which 16,069 requests were related to account bans. According to the report, WhatsApp took direct action on a total of 1,001 accounts, including banning 756 accounts, while warnings, monitoring, or other measures were taken in the remaining cases.
Ban system works in three stages
WhatsApp stated in its statement that it uses a 'three-stage abuse detection system.' It has three main stages:
- Account Setup Stage: Suspicious activities are identified when creating a new account at this stage.
- Messaging Stage: Sent messages are monitored. Immediate action is taken if irregularities are found.
- Reaction and Feedback Stage: Reports and negative feedback received from users are analyzed.
With the help of this system, the company can automatically ban thousands of suspicious accounts, preventing any kind of misuse.
Impact of strict rules in India
Under the new IT rules of the Government of India, social media companies with more than 5 million users are required to publish a monthly compliance report every month. It contains detailed information on user complaints, their resolution, and actions taken. WhatsApp stated that if a user considers their account ban to be unfair, they can appeal to the 'Grievance Appellate Committee.' However, the company claims that it does not ban any account without a solid reason.
Why is this step necessary?
Cases of fake news, spam, cyberbullying, and online fraud have increased rapidly in the last few years. A large number of groups have been formed on WhatsApp in which rumors, hate speech, and fake schemes are rapidly going viral. To control all these, the company is constantly strengthening its monitoring system. Experts believe that social media companies should increase human monitoring along with technology so that errors caused by relying only on machines can be avoided.
What should users do?
If your WhatsApp account has been banned for no reason, don't panic. You can contact the WhatsApp support team and file a review request. In addition, keep the following in mind to keep your account secure:
- Do not trust unknown numbers.
- Do not share forwarded messages without checking.
- Avoid any kind of spam activity.
- If you are a group admin, act responsibly.
