Indian Government blocks 14 mobile apps that helped terrorist to communicate from Pakistan by maintaining anonymity

The Indian government has banned 14 messenger mobile applications used by terrorists in Pakistan to transmit messages to Jammu and Kashmir. Terrorists were using these applications because of their ability to maintain the anonymity of the entities which made it hard to track them down. They would use these applications to communicate with their supporters and on-ground workers (OWG) thus causing a threat to national security.

“Agencies keep track of channels used by Overground workers (OGWs) and terrorists to communicate among themselves. While tracking down one of the communication, agencies found that the mobile application does not have representatives in India, and it is difficult to track down activities happening on the app,” an official told news agency ANI

The banned apps include Crypviser, Enigma, Safeswiss, Wickrme, Mediafire, Briar, BChat, Nandbox, Conion, IMO, Element, Second Line, Zangi, and Threema. This crackdown took place on the recommendation of security and intelligence agencies. Thereafter a list of apps that pose a threat to national security was prepared and sent to the concerned ministry to take action against them by banning them. A hard step of the ban has also been taken because these apps don’t have any office to communicate in India which could be asked in case of any security issue. These apps have been blocked under Section 69A of the Information Technology Act, 2000 the official said.

This is not the first time when such apps have been blocked in India. Since June over 200 Chinese apps have been banned including TikTok, Shareit, WeChat, Helo, UC News, etc. Some of the gaming apps which were banned include PUBG Mobile and Garena Free Fire.