After a major clampdown in 2020 by the Indian government that saw dozens of mobile applications, or apps of Chinese origin being blocked and taken off the Google (Android) Play Store, and Apple’s App Store, the Indian government may be gearing up for another such ban soon.
119 Apps To Be Banned
According to a report by Moneycontrol in another round of blanket bans, the, government is set to block, and therefore remove, as many as 119 applications. These apps are said to be of Chinese origin.
Lumen Database is a Harvard University-operated site tracking content removal requests by authorities, primarily by government and other entities.
| File Image
And, most importantly, these applications are mostly voice and video call/chat platforms that operate from China or Hong Kong. This is according to a dataset disclosed by Google on the Lumen Database.
Lumen Database is a Harvard University-operated site tracking content removal requests by authorities, primarily by government and other entities.
15 Apps Withheld
This comes at the back of the news, that about 36 of the 118 apps, that were previously banned have now returned to app stores.
According to Moneycontrol, 15, out of the 119 apps, have been withheld in India so far. This is because the rest continue to be available for download.
Action Over Threat To National Security
The Indian government is said to have initiated these actions under the Section 69A of the Information Technology Act.
This section of the IT act states, “Where the Central Government or any of its officers specially authorised by it in this behalf is satisfied that it is necessary or expedient so to do, in the interest of sovereignty and integrity of India, defence of India, security of the State, friendly relations with foreign States or public order or for preventing incitement to the commission of any cognizable offence relating to above, it may subject to the provisions of sub-section (2), for reasons to be recorded in writing, by order, direct any agency of the Government or intermediary to block for access by the public or cause to be blocked for access by the public any information generated, transmitted, received, stored or hosted in any computer resource.”
The Indian government and its Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology are yet to publicly issue a statement on the matter.
|
One of the apps affected by this order is ChangApp, along with HoneyCam.
Other companies, that have witheld or are in the radar, have not been disclosed.
The Indian government and its Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology are yet to publicly issue a statement on the matter.
This development could further lead to a potential confrontation between the nations, that have tried to normalise the bilateral ties, after a long winter of cold shoulder, between the two neighbours.
