Army cracks whip, bans 89 social media apps, orders deletion by its personnel by July 15

The Indian army has asked its personnel to delete 89 apps, many of them of Chinese origin, by July 15. The move follows a ban on 59 Chinese apps in the country amid a tense face-off between the two countries on the LAC. The list of 89 apps includes social networking sites like Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, etc, reports ETV Bharat's Sanjib Kr Baruah.

New Delhi:Amid an ongoing tense face-off between the Indian and Chinese militaries in eastern Ladakh and heavy mobilization by both sides, the Indian Army has cracked the whip by asking its personnel to delete 89 social media apps—many of them of Chinese origin—by July 15.

This kind of order is nothing new. But despite several official directives in the past that were clearly not strictly adhered with, the Army has set a deadline this time.

“The comprehensive order was issued in the second week of June,” a senior Army official confirmed to ETV Bharat—the reason why the list of apps include many of the 40 apps that were blanket-banned by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MEITY) on Sunday evening (July 5).

The list of 89 apps includes social networking sites like Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, messaging platforms (including We Chat, Viber, Helo, Shara Chat, etc), video hosting sites like TikTok, web browsers like UC Browser and UC Browser Mini, video and live-streaming apps, utility apps like CamScanner, gaming apps like PUBG, e-commerce sites, dating apps like Tinder, etc.

The order is an underlining of the growing apprehension of the military of the vulnerability that army personnel face especially in the backdrop of many cases of honey-trapping by adversaries and forces inimical to India interests.

Just last year, the Army had issued at least two advisories—one in July and another in November — warning its personnel to be careful and vigilant while interacting in cyberspace.

The warning was issued after hundreds of fake social media profiles were found to be operating that were identified as potential threats that may be used to extract sensitive and military information from army personnel.

In particular, the Pakistani spy agency ISI is adept in the use of women to ensnare Indian military, security and diplomatic to compel them to part with sensitive information.