WhatsApp account of activist restored after Meta gets legal notice

MP | 24 Apr 2023 | KOLKATA: The suspended WhatsApp account of social activist Bolan Ganguly was restored on Friday by Meta after her lawyer sent a legal notice claiming that the discontinuation of the social media account is against the law. Ganguly’s WhatsApp account has been blocked since February 13. 

On February 15, she allegedly received a communication from the WhatsApp authority where it was mentioned that there were several complaints against that number and thus, they were suspending the account. 

However, when Ganguly asked the WhatsApp authority about what were the complaints against her, the social media authority allegedly refused to inform her about the same.

Ganguly said: “I was told that they have received several complaints against me. When I wanted to know about them, the WhatsApp authority informed me that I have violated the rules as per their conditions and thus, they are blocking my account.” 

Ganguly, after getting the reply from WhatsApp, got in touch with her lawyer Bivas Chatterjee who sent a legal notice to the WhatsApp authority through email and as well as by speed post. Interestingly, the address mentioned on the WhatsApp grievance page was not found. After the legal notice came back showing ‘address not found’, Chatterjee sent the same to the Meta authority which is the service provider of WhatsApp.

 This time the letter was received. On Friday, Ganguly found that her WhatsApp account has been reactivated. However, nobody was informed about the same from Meta or WhatsApp. Chatterjee claimed that WhatsApp authority has no right to suspend any account without informing the user about the allegation.

He said: “As per the terms and conditions of WhatsApp, they can suspend any account at any time. This is completely against the Information and Technology (IT) Act of our country and the Constitution of India as it violates the right of being heard. In section 69A of the IT Act, the process and provisions of blocking are mentioned elaborately. But in this case, WhatsApp has not followed the mandate and not even the rule to block someone.” 

Courtesy & source- Millennium Post

https://www.millenniumpost.in/bengal/whatsapp-account-of-activist-restored-after-meta-gets-legal-notice-516213