WhatsApp blocks 2 million Indian accounts in battle against spam messages

WhatsApp blocked 2 million accounts of Indian users in a month to prevent harmful behavior, the company said in its first ever compliance report published under the country's strict new information technology rules.

Under the new rules, which came into effect in May, social media companies have to publish a compliance report every month detailing how many complaints they received from Indian users and what action they took. International technology firms also have to hire executives locally, who can help regulate content and take swift action in response to legal complaints. The Facebook (FB)-owned messaging app said that more than 95% of the 2 million accounts blocked between May 15 and June 15 were banned "due to the unauthorized use of automated or bulk messaging."