WhatsApp users who have been banned will soon be able to submit a request to have their ban reviewed from within the app to appeal unfair sanctions.
WABetaInfo reported that WhatsApp has been testing the feature in the iOS beta application for the past month and is working on implementing the same on the WhatsApp beta for Android.
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The Facebook-owned messaging company does well to ban accounts that perform mass or automated actions — unfortunately, innocent individuals sometimes get caught in the crossfire.
“Just use their service normally and you’re fine, but it can happen that there are situations out of your control (for example you are added to an illegal group without your consent) and you’re banned,” WABetaInfo said.
The ban appeal feature is being developed after several user accounts were wrongly banned, and WhatsApp wasn’t able to immediately restore their access.
Banned users will be shown a page stating that “This account is not allowed to use WhatsApp” with a reason for their suspension.
The addition of the ban review system will include a button on this page to “Request a Review.”
Once selected, users will be able to provide additional information relevant to their appeal.
Users will be informed by WhatsApp when their account has been reviewed — this can take up to 24 hours. Chats on the device will remain intact.
If the review process finds that the user was unfairly banned, WhatsApp will restore the account.
If WhatsApp’s terms of service were violated, the “This account is not allowed to use WhatsApp” message will persist, and users will be prompted to register a new number.
