In accordance with the new IT Regulations 2021, WhatsApp banned more than 2.9 million accounts in India in the month of January, a significant decrease from the 3.6 million accounts it blocked in the nation in December of last year.

From January 1 to January 31 "2,918,000 WhatsApp accounts were banned. 1,038,000 of these accounts were proactively banned, before any reports from users," the company said in its monthly compliance report.

The popular messaging service, which has close to 500 million users nationwide, got 1,461 complaint complaints in January, with 195 of those records being "acted upon”.

"This report contains details of the user complaints received and the corresponding action taken by WhatsApp, as well as WhatsApp's own preventive actions to combat abuse on our platform," said a company spokesperson.

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In the meantime, Rajeev Chandrasekhar, Minister of State for Electronics and IT, formed the Grievance Appellate Committee (GAC) on Tuesday in an effort to give millions of Indians who use social media more influence. The GAC will investigate their complaints about content and other issues.

The recently established body will examine user appeals against decisions made by social media platforms as part of an effort to improve the nation's digital laws and rein in Big Tech giants.

In accordance with the recently modified IT Regulations, 2021, the IT Ministry announced last month that three Grievance Appellate Committees (GACs) must be established.

In a major push towards an open, safe, trusted and accountable Internet, the Ministry of Electronics and IT has notified some amendments aimed at protecting the rights of 'Digital Nagriks'.

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