WhatsApp has been deleting millions of its user accounts. Read on to know why several WhatsApp accounts has been banned…
For Facebook, owner of WhatsApp app, India has been the biggest user base for WhatsApp. There are over 200 million WhatsApp users in India and the number is growing exponentially. As more and more online users join WhatsApp, incidents of people misusing the instant messaging app is also growing.
As WhatsApp prepares to fight its mammoth fake news problem, WhatsApp is now deleting two million accounts every month. WhatsApp, over the last three months, has banned millions of accounts for bulk or automated behaviour.
Challenges
WhatsApp is struggling to curb these misuses, or to boot out users who indulge in abusive behaviour like sharing inappropriate photographs through WhatsApp or sharing fake news and misinformation. It is also struggling to tackle spammers and swindlers. As a result, WhatsApp is now getting aggressive in checking abuse of its app.
WhatsApp can ban your account if it detects you sending suspicious links to others. WhatsApp has released this information as a white paper publication, detailing the stopping of abuse.
When WhatsApp bans an account, it has a team that reviews and responds to user appeals. In that process, it may ask users for additional information in order to regain access to their account.
Conditions for WhatsApp Ban
WhatsApp in a 11 page document explains that it bans an account at three stages. These are at registration, during messaging, and in response to user reports. If you don’t want your WhatsApp account blocked, understand how this process works.
Blocking at registration: Registration is the first step for using WhatsApp. This is the stage where WhatsApp sends a temporary code via SMS or a phone call. Users need to enter this one-time code to prove they have control over the phone number and SIM card for their account. WhatsApp will ban your account at registration if your phone number has been recently abused or if the computer network used for registration has been associated with any suspicious behaviour.
Blocking at messaging: If a suspicious account manages to pass through registration, messaging is the second stage where it can be banned. WhatsApp can detect a suspicious account by tapping the intensity of user activity. Your account can be blocked if you try send 100 messages in 15 seconds within five minutes of registration.
* Your account can be seized if you attempt to quickly create dozens of groups or add thousands of users to a series of existing groups under five minutes of registration.
* WhatsApp displays at the top of a chat thread when a user is typing. If you receive messages from someone without showing the typing indicator, it is better to block that contact from your end as it could be a spammer and WhatsApp’s detection mechanism will ultimately ban that account.
* WhatsApp can ban your account if it detects you sending suspicious links to others.
Blocking on basis of negative feedback: WhatsApp can also ban account on the basis of negative feedback that an account accumulates. If an account has received a certain number of blocks or negative feedbacks, WhatsApp will block that account.
