WhatsApp’s India monthly reports on the first three months of 2023 and 2024 revealed that the number of Banned accounts on the messaging platform has nearly doubled this year compared to the same period last year. The reports, mandated under the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021 says that between January 1 and January 31, 2024, a staggering 6,728,000 WhatsApp accounts were banned. The figures surged in February, with 7,628,000 accounts banned between February 1 and February 29, 2024. March saw a further increase, with 7,954,000 accounts banned between March 1 and March 31, 2024. This brings the total number of banned accounts in the first three months of 2024 to a striking 22,310,000. Comparatively, between January 1 and March 31, 2023, a total of 12,231,306 accounts were banned.