Eastern Mirror Desk
Dimapur, Feb. 7: Facebook-owned WhatsApp is removing at least two million accounts each month for bulk or automated behaviour and over 75% of those without recent user reports. According to the company, these efforts are particularly important during elections where certain groups may attempt to send messages at scale.
"While there are many actors trying to abuse the free service we provide, we are constantly advancing our anti-abuse operations to keep the platform safe," WhatsApp said in a statement on Thursday.
WhatsApp, which has over 200 million users in India, aims to understand the behavioural cues indicating bulk registrations.
"For example, our systems can detect if a similar phone number has been recently abused or if the computer network used for registration has been associated with suspicious behaviour," it added.
As part of establishing its operations in India, WhatsApp said it has identified a ‘grievance officer’ who can be contacted directly if a user has a concern about their WhatsApp experience and is unable to report it through other channels.
WhatsApp said it facilitated training for political parties in states that went into elections in 2018.
"We will expand this effort and work with the Election Commission of India in the lead up to the national election this year,” said WhatsApp.
Meanwhile, India's political parties have been abusing Facebook's messaging service WhatsApp ahead of the country's general election and the company has warned them not to do so, a senior executive said on Wednesday.
WhatsApp declined to name the parties or give the exact nature of the alleged misuse, but there is mounting concern in India that party workers could abuse the platform by using automated tools for mass messaging, or spread false news to sway voters.
The messaging app has become a key campaign tool used widely by workers of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party and the opposition Congress party, which accuse each other of propagating fake news while denying they do so themselves.
"We have seen a number of parties attempt to use WhatsApp in ways that it was not intended, and our firm message to them is that using it in that way will result in bans of our service," said, Carl Woog, head of communications for WhatsApp.
WhatsApp has been at the centre of controversy in India since last year after false messages spread on its platform sparked a number of mob lynching.
WhatsApp has tried to curb the spread of fake news by educating users through road show campaigns, as well as print and radio advertising. It also limited the number of people someone can forward a message to at one time.
