Overview
- The reviews began Monday evening, Aug. 3, when users in India and other regions opened WhatsApp to find accounts marked “Account in review” and all features blocked for up to 24 hours.
- The in-app notice said WhatsApp was checking account activity and device information and that users would typically be notified within 24 hours.
- WhatsApp told reporters it uses reviews to prevent abuse and that its systems can be wrong, but the company did not say how many accounts were affected or whether a technical fault or automated enforcement triggered the action.
- User experiences diverged: some accounts were restored after hours of appeals, while others reported permanent bans or lost ability to reopen appeals and received only automated responses.
- The episode has intensified calls for clearer transparency about how WhatsApp’s automated detection works, stronger grievance mechanisms for locked or banned accounts, and closer regulatory scrutiny in India where the platform is already required to report enforcement activity.