MEITY bans 43 mobile Apps including Ali Express and Snack Video

It only feels like yesterday when a similar press release was issued by the Press information bureau, on 2^nd September 2020, informing about the blocking of public access of 188 Apps under section 69A of Information technology act, which banned the very popular mobile game in India, PUBG. One can’t forget about another the other similar order which blocked the access of another 59 apps in June, including the popular short video content based Social Media Platform TikTok and several other popular platforms including Shien, Camscanner, Shareit etc, either. The 24^th of November became another such day when public access to several other applications,43 to be specific, was blocked by the MeITY through the powers conferred to them under Section 60A of the IT Act,2000

Reasons for the Blocking of public access

In the previously published press releases, a bit more descriptive approach was adopted to inform the public, the reasons as to why the public access of these applications was being taken away. The reasons for these blockades were the several complaints received by the Certi-in and the Cyber Crime Coordination Centre, highlighting that certain apps were “stealing” and “surreptitiously transmitting” user data, to servers which were located outside the border the nation. ‘Breach of privacy’ and ‘security concerns’ were the fundamental concerns raised in the order as these issues could lead to ‘profiling’ of certain elements which could affect the national security and disrupt the public order. It is interesting to note that the term “privacy of citizens” was highlighted throughout the order passed by the MEITY. However, in the present order, no such issue of privacy has been stated by the MEITY through their press release. The notification simply mentions the reason for the same to be the receipt of several inputs regarding these apps for engaging in activities which are prejudicial to sovereignty and integrity of India, defence of India, the security of the state and public order.

Apps which were banned

Among the list of apps being blocked, which includes Several Dating Apps, AliExpress and Snackvideo are most popular and have more than 100 million installs each. Aliexpress is an e-commerce platform which is very popular all around the world in terms of faster delivery and affordable prices. While snackvideo is a Short video sharing social media platform just like TikTok and gained popularity after TikTok was banned in India. The notification mentions the following Apps which are to be Blocked.