The Government of India has taken another major cyber security step and ordered to ban 119 mobile apps. Most of these apps belong to video chat and voice platforms, which are being told to China and Hong Kong. The concern of national security behind this ban is considered to be the main reason. However, many apps are still available for downloads, making the matter even more serious. Let’s know the complete details of this decision.
The Government of India has taken a major cyber security step and banned 119 mobile apps. These apps are mainly related to video and voice platforms, whose wires are being linked to China and Hong Kong. The government has taken this action under Section 69A of the Information Technology Act, under which online content can be banned keeping in mind the national security and public system.
Banned apps
According to media reports, these apps were informed on the Lumen Database run by Harvard University, but now this listing has been removed. The government has mainly cited the threat related to national security behind implementing this ban. Earlier in 2020, 2021 and 2022, the Government of India had banned several Chinese apps. In 2020, about 100 apps including Tiktok and Shareit were banned, while in 2021 and 2022, low numbers were imposed.
Which apps were affected?
According to reports, only three of these 119 apps have been specially identified. These include Singapore -based video chat and gaming platform Chillchat, which has been downloaded more than 1 million times and has a rating 4.1 star on Google Play Store. The second app is the Changapp, developed by a Chinese company Blome. The third app is Honeycam, which is operated by Australian company Shelin PTY Limited. Honeycomm includes facilities such as automated filtering and manual oversite for content moderation.
Government order secrecy
The orders issued under Section 69A of the Information Technology Act are confidential, and the government usually does not publicly comment on them. This time too, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology has not publicly shared any official information related to the ban of these apps. However, according to reports, Google published details on this blocking on 18 February, which was later removed.
Are the apps still available for download?
According to the report, most of the 119 apps banned by the Government of India are still available for download. So far only 15 apps have been removed from the Google Play Store, while the rest can still be accessed by users. Developers of the affected apps told Moneycontrol that they came to know about the ban through Google and they were ready to cooperate with Indian officials. Chilchat said that this ban will affect their daily communication and entertainment activities of their Indian users.
Earlier ban and their impact
This is not the first time the Government of India has banned apps related to China and China. After the Indo-China struggle in the Galwan Valley in 2020, the government banned Tiktok, Shareit, UC Browser, WeChat and many other Chinese apps in view of national security. After this, similar restrictions were seen in 2021 and 2022.
On the effects of this time the ban, experts believe that this data reflects the strong policy of the Government of India regarding security. This ban can prove to be another important step towards securing India’s digital sovereignty.
What will be the effect of this ban in the future?
This ban can prove to be another important step towards strengthening cyber security and data protection in India. The government’s move clearly shows that it will not compromise on the protection of its digital infrastructure. However, companies affected by this ban may have to talk to the government to reinforce their status in the Indian market.
