WhatsApp has acknowledged that some genuine users may have been mistakenly caught in its latest safety sweep, after several accounts, including many in India, were abruptly placed under review for up to 24 hours.
The Meta-owned messaging platform said the review process is part of its ongoing efforts to detect and prevent misuse of the service, but admitted that legitimate accounts can occasionally be flagged in error.
"We are always working to stay ahead of those trying to abuse our service and ban accounts to help keep other users safe. Sometimes we get this wrong and if we do, we try to fix it as quickly as possible to get people back to chatting," WhatsApp said in a statement.
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The company said the reviews are aimed at protecting users by identifying accounts suspected of violating its policies. It added that accounts found to have been flagged incorrectly are restored after the review is completed.
The issue surfaced on Monday evening, when several users reported seeing a message stating that their accounts were "under review". The notification said WhatsApp was checking account activity and device information to ensure compliance with its Terms of Service, with the review typically completed within 24 hours.
The review screen also linked users to guidance on responsible use of WhatsApp, as well as resources related to stolen phones and compromised accounts.
Many affected users took to social media, saying they had been locked out despite using the official WhatsApp application. Several said the temporary restrictions disrupted both personal and work-related communication, prompting calls for the company to restore access quickly.
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The account review issue came just hours before another disruption hit the platform. Early on Tuesday, users across multiple countries reported being unable to send images and videos through WhatsApp, while some said media sharing continued to work on WhatsApp Web. Downdetector showed a sharp rise in complaints during the early hours, with messaging issues accounting for the majority of reports.
WhatsApp has not indicated whether the account reviews and the subsequent media-sharing outage are connected.
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