New Delhi: The Indian Army has asked all its personnel and soldiers to remove 89 apps by July 15 owing to the national security risks.
The list not only have Chinese apps that have already been banned by the government like TikTok but also carries US-based platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, Zoom, Truecaller, Reddit and more.
Digital news app Dailyhunt, funded by Chinese firm Bytedance is among the banned apps. Dailyhunt is a news aggregator based in Bangalore which provides content in 14 languages.
The 89 apps have social media accounts, content sharing apps, short video making apps, e-commerce and dating sites like songs.pk, WeChat, Hike, Likee, Shareit, PUBG and Tinder, etc.
"The existing accounts are required to be deleted and not left deactivated. Any service persons found on Facebook/using banned sites post-July 15 will be reported," according to the sources in the Indian Army.
The decision has apparently been taken in order to stop sensitive information from going out the country.
India has already banned 59 Chinese apps, including TikTok, saying these apps opened the way for "elements hostile to national security and defence" to exploit them to "ultimately impinge upon the sovereignty and integrity of India".
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has said that Washington was looking at banning Chinese social media apps, including TikTok.
In a Fox News interview on Monday, Pompeo said that "we're taking this very seriously".
