WhatsApp s in Kashmir Being Removed as Internet Shutdown Crosses 120 Days 3w4g5b

WhatsApp is once again in the news after it was noticed that Kashimiris (specifically, those people living in Kashmir) have started disappearing from group chats on the platform. Many s reported their concerns on social media given the current situation in the valley that has no Internet for over four months. WhatsApp has acknowledged the development in a statement to Gadgets 360, clarifying that the disappearance is due to the long inactivity of WhatsApp s. Some of the affected s are likely to permanently lose their data, including chat logs, images, and videos, if they aren't able to back up the data in 30 days from the deactivation.

Many people this week began reporting that their Kashmiri s were suddenly leaving their WhatsApp groups en masse. This struck them as strange since Internet services are inaccessible in the Kashmir valley thanks to a blockade since the night of August 4, raising the question of how they were able to access the Internet to leave groups.

"Suddenly all my s from Kashmir are ‘leaving' the #Whatsapp groups, and their WhatsApp s are getting lost. there is NO internet in #Kashmir from the last 4 months. What kind of sinister moves are these? @facebook @WhatsApp @UNGeneva @UNHumanRights," wrote one Twitter .

Some s speculated that WhatsApp deleted the s of particularly Kashmiri people. However, a WhatsApp spokesperson told Gadgets 360 that the sudden vanishing of the concerned s were a result of the company's policy for inactive s.

“WhatsApp cares deeply about providing s everywhere with the ability to privately communicate with their friends and loved ones,” the spokesperson said in the statement. “To maintain security and limit data retention, WhatsApp s generally expire after 120 days of inactivity. When that happens, those s automatically exit all their WhatsApp groups. People will need to be re-added to groups upon regaining access to the Internet and ing WhatsApp again."

“Kashmir s automatically ‘exiting' from WhatsApp groups today,” one of the s posted while raising the concern on Twitter. “I know they would not have been able to see my messages anyway, but this is heartbreakingly symbolic.”

BuzzFeed News first reported the disappearances of Kashmiri WhatsApp s. The publication quoted some friends and family who felt dismay due to the removal of their s from their group chats.

As per an FAQ listing available on the WhatsApp site, the instant message app completely deletes s that remain inactive for up to 30 days. This suggests that it is quite likely that many of the affected s in Kashmir may lose their data permanently if they don't activate them or at least back up their information such as chat logs or shared images or videos.

India is an important market for WhatsApp. The Facebook-owned firm has frequently forwarded label.