Facebook-owned messaging platform WhatsApp revealed how it was using machine learning to ban fake and abusive accounts in India ahead of the national elections. The messaging service said it had banned over 2 million accounts per month for bulk or automated behaviour over the last three months.
It said in the paper that WhatsApp was built for private messages and that the service was not a “broadcast platform”.
WhatsApp also facilitated political party training in the five Indian states with elections in 2018 to ensure political parties did not abuse the platform for campaigns. The training emphasised that sending WhatsApp messages to users without permission could lead to accounts being banned. “We will expand this effort and work with the Election Commission of India in the lead-up to the national election in 2019,” it said.