WhatsApp has been working to add more features to its platform lately. Yesterday, we saw the company roll out a new group call feature and redesigned call UI. And now, the messaging giant is testing a new feature that allows users to appeal a banned account review within the app.
The feature, discovered by reputable tipster WABetaInfo, essentially lets users drop a review request within WhatsApp to review an already banned account. Following the review process, WhatsApp might unban an account if it finds that the account was wrongly banned in the first place.
Request a Review for Banned WhatsApp Account
For those unaware, WhatsApp has a built-in automated system to ban accounts and groups that do not comply with its terms of services. Although the automated system protects the platform by preventing unlawful or suspicious accounts, it sometimes bans innocent users for the sake of protection.
Citing the problem, WhatsApp is now working on the “Request a Review” feature for banned WhatsApp accounts. So, if the automated system bans a WhatsApp account, the banned user will now see a new “Request a Review” option on opening the app.
Tapping this option will send an account review initiation to WhatsApp. Users can also add additional comments to further explain their situation when submitting a review request. Following the submission, the company will take up to 24 hours to review a banned account and check device information to find what led to the ban.
Upon completion, WhatsApp might restore the banned account or completely ban it, depending on the review report. If the company finds that the account complies with its terms of services, the app will give the banned users an option to re-verify their account.
Moreover, it is worth mentioning that the review process usually takes around 24 hours. During that time, the users’ chats and media files on WhatsApp are not deleted. So, if a banned user is able to restore their account, they will be able to access all the previous chats within the app.
Coming to the availability, this feature is currently under development and will be made available to WhatsApp users with a future update.
