The government has blocked 348 mobile applications that were identified by the Home Ministry for transmitting users’ information in an unauthorised manner to servers located outside the country, Parliament was informed on Wednesday.
Minister of state for electronics and IT Rajeev Chandrasekhar in a written reply to the Lok Sabha said the apps are developed by various countries, including China.
“Based on the request from MHA, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) has blocked those 348 mobile applications since such data transmissions infringes the sovereignty and integrity of India, defence of India and security of the State,” he said.
There was no mention of the time period when these 348 apps were blocked by the Meity.
Last month, the Battlegrounds Mobile India, or BGMI, was removed from Google Play Store as well as App Store over government’s order. The removal happened without warning. However, Google confirmed that it received a government order directing it to delist the popular online game.
It was later reported that BGMI from the South Korean game development firm Krafton was removed from app stores as there were concerns about its data sharing and mining in China, an Indian government source told Reuters. Section 69A of India’s IT Act allows the government to block public access to content in the interest of national security, among other reasons.
However, the Skyesports CEO and Founder Shiva Nandy has recently mentioned via Instagram that the ban is temporary. The game will be back in India soon.
