The popular instant messaging app WhatsApp, owned by Meta, said on Thursday that over 2.39 million Indian accounts were banned in July, the highest so far this year.

Large digital platforms are required to publish compliance reports each month due to India's stricter IT laws.

Draft rules that were made public in June suggested creating a panel to hear user appeals and stated that major social media messaging platforms must permit the identification of the first originator of information if ordered to do so by courts.

1.42 million of the blocked accounts were "proactively banned," meaning they were suspended without user reports.

The social media platform said that a number of accounts were banned as a result of complaints that were submitted through the company's grievances channel and the tools and resources it employs to identify such offences.

WhatsApp received a total of 574 reports of complaints in July.

The messaging app, which has previously come under fire for promoting fake news and hate speech both within India and outside the world, removed 2.21 million accounts in June.