WhatsApp now has a grievance officer for India: Here’s how you register complaints

Nandini YadavMay 26, 2021 16:21:48 IST

Earlier this year, a series of violent mob attacks, fuelled by misinformation circulated via WhatsApp, left a painful number of people dead in India. Ever since then, WhatsApp has been under the users’ and State’s scrutiny to make changes to its platforms to tackle the ‘deadly’ issue at hand.

After releasing a series of ads in newspapers, rolling out a forward message label, and limiting the ability to forward texts, on Monday, WhatsApp hired Komal Lahiri as its grievance officer for India.

What this means for a regular user is that you can now lodge complaints through the WhatsApp app, send an email, or write to the grievance officer. The idea is to allow the report centre to be more approachable and being able to address issues urgently.

Representational image. Creative credit: Tech2/Nandini Yadav

If you ever face any issue on the messenger or someone sends you objectionable content and doesn’t budge even after you tell them off or if you are being wrongly defamed or in case you see any illegal, offensive obscene messages being exchanged, you can now immediately report or write to the grievance officer.

(Also read: Real world of fake news: A look at the spread of misinformation and what it means for the media)

Here’s how you go about doing that.

Register complaints via the app

Registering complaints via the WhatsApp Messenger itself is quite easy. To do that, launch WhatsApp, head to Settings > Help > Contact Us. All WhatsApp users in India will now see this new page, which lets you write in what your complaint is regarding. You can also add screenshots to the complaint, to attach proof. Once done, tap on next and your complaint is registered.

(Also read: What should you do if your WhatsApp group receives objectional content?)

Register complaints via email

To register complaints via email, you can send a mail to grievance_officer_wa@support.whatsapp.com.

Do note, WhatsApp directs in its FAQs that these complaint emails must carry an electronic signature. There are apps like DocuSign and Adobe Sign that are available for free on both Android and iOS, and let you digitally sign on your phone or tablet.

Further, WhatsApp mentions that if you contact them regarding a specific account, then you must include your phone number in full international format, including the country code. [example +91 916xxxxxx0].

Register complaints via post

If you choose to post your complaint to the grievance officer in a letter, you can send in the mail to:

Komal Lahiri
WhatsApp Inc.
Attention: Grievance Officer
1601 Willow Road
Menlo Park, California 94025
United States of America

Don’t be pressured, and don’t be scared, if someone or something on the platform is bothering you or somebody you know, speak up and report the issue.