Overview
- At a March meeting of the Union Home Ministry’s Inter‑Departmental Committee, WhatsApp agreed to pursue device‑level blocking for numbers tied to digital‑arrest scams and to file a technical proposal within 45 days.
- Within 30 days, the platform will submit a plan for Skype‑style safeguards that provide more caller information, flag suspicious accounts, and improve detection of coordinated scam networks.
- WhatsApp told officials it will implement the Department of Telecommunications’ SIM‑binding requirement in four to six months and furnish an Action Taken Report by the end of March.
- The committee directed retention of data from deleted accounts for at least 180 days under IT Rules, 2021, and asked WhatsApp to strengthen detection and blocking of harmful APKs and to curb prolonged coercive calls.
- WhatsApp said it is using logo detection and media matching to remove accounts impersonating agencies such as Delhi and Mumbai Police, the CBI and ATS, and it will expand AI systems and law‑enforcement cooperation as courts and regulators intensify scrutiny.