The ministry of electronics and information technology on Tuesday blocked 43 mobile applications for engaging in activities which are “prejudicial to sovereignty and integrity of the country, defence, security of state and public order”.

Govt bans 43 mobile apps for ‘engaging in activities prejudicial to integrity of India’

Earlier this year on June 29, the government had blocked access to 59 mobile apps and 118 more apps on September 2 under section 69A of the Information Technology Act.

The decision to ban the applications for users in India was taken following comprehensive reports from Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Center of the ministry of home affairs, the IT ministry said in a statement. WeWorkChina, AliExpress, CamCard, and Snack Video are some of the mobile applications that were banned by the Centre on Tuesday.

Earlier this year on June 29, the government had blocked access to 59 mobile apps and 118 more apps on September 2 under section 69A of the Information Technology Act. The move to ban the apps, of which most were Chinese, was termed as a digital strike on the neighbouring nation with which India has been engaged in a standoff along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in eastern Ladakh.

Previously too mobile applications such as TikTok, UC Browser, WeChat and Ludo were blocked by the government citing concerns that these are ‘prejudicial to sovereignty and integrity of India, defence of India, security of state and public order’.

New Delhi: The Central government on Tuesday imposed a ban on 43 more mobile apps. The government said it is blocking 43 mobile apps from being accessed by users in India, under Section 69A of the Information Technology Act.

The action has been taken against mobile applications which were involved in activities prejudicial to India's sovereignty, integrity, defence, security and public order.

“Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, Government of India today issued an order under section 69A of the Information Technology Act blocking access to 43 mobile apps. This action was taken based on the inputs regarding these apps for engaging in activities which are prejudicial to sovereignty and integrity of India, defence of India, security of state and public order.

“Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology has issued the order for blocking the access of these apps by users in India based on the comprehensive reports received from Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Center, Ministry of Home Affairs,” a government press release stated.

It may be recalled that the government had on June 29 and September 2 also banned several apps to protest the sovereignty and integrity of India. Most of the banned apps were of Chinese origin.

“Earlier on 29th June, 2020 the Government of India had blocked access to 59 mobile apps and on 2nd September, 2020 118 more apps were banned under section 69A of the Information Technology Act. Government is committed to protect the interests of citizens and sovereignty and integrity of India on all fronts and it shall take all possible steps to ensure that,” the release stated.

The move comes months after the government first blocked access to 59 mobile apps in June 2020 and then extended the ban to 118 more apps in September 2020. This totals to 177 apps. With the latest apps being banned, the total number of apps being banned in India stands at 220.