Indian Army Asks Personnel to Delete 89 Apps Including Facebook, TikTok, Tinder, PUBG: Report

The Army has asked its personnel to delete 89 apps to plug leakage of information, according to various reports.

By Gopal Sathe | Updated: 8 July 2020 22:54 IST

Indian Army Asks Personnel to Delete 89 Apps Including Facebook, TikTok, Tinder, PUBG: Report

Highlights

Indian Army bans personnel from using 89 social media apps
The ban includes Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok, among others
The ban is only for army personnel, not civilians

The Indian Army wants its personnel to delete 89 apps, ranging from Tiktok, Facebook, Truecaller, and Instagram, to games like PUBG Mobile, and datings apps like Tinder, as well as news apps like Daily Hunt and all 'private blogs', according to reports. According to the reports, the army wants personnel to delete these apps to plug the leakage of information. The inclusion of categories like dating apps suggests that the army isn't just worried about cyber snooping, but also real world snooping. There is a large overlap with the list of 59 Chinese apps banned by the government, but this list is even larger, and isn't restricted to only apps from China.

A tweet from news agency ANI includes a photograph of a page with the list of the apps, and the title, 'Social Media Apps: Banned for Usage'. It quotes Army sources to say that the ban is to plug leakage of information. Another report, from IndiaTV News added that the army has set a deadline of July 15 to delete these apps, or else face action. Before this, the Army allowed its personnel to use Facebook but with restrictions like not posting pictures in uniform or disclosing the location of their units, according to a report by Times of India.

Indian Army has asked its personnel to delete 89 apps from their smartphones including Facebook, TikTok, Truecaller and Instagram to plug leakage of information: Indian Army Sources pic.twitter.com/l23Lu5ndNh
— ANI (@ANI) July 8, 2020

These include some of the most popular apps in India, such as Facebook and Instagram, Tinder and PUBG, and also include some broad categories such as "all Tencent gaming apps," and "Private blogs", apart from Chinese apps that have already been banned by the government such as TikTok, SHAREit, and UC Browser. The headline of the list also says apps banned so it's unclear whether the websites of platforms like Facebook or Reddit are also banned — they can easily be accessed from mobile browsers instead of the app, after all.

The ban is clearly related to the tensions that are taking place between India and China, but unlike the government list, this ban will only apply to army personnel. This isn't the first time that the army has ordered a similar ban either. Earlier this year, the army gave a warning to officers using Facebook and WhatsApp, according to a Gadgets Now report. The order also asked them not to carry smartphones into bases and dockyards as well as on board warships, and directed the “ban on use of Facebook by all naval personnel and ban on use of smartphones within naval bases / establishments / dockyards / onboard warships.”

Around the same time, the US army also banned soldiers from using TikTok. "It is considered a cyber threat," Lt Col Robin Ochoa, a US Army spokesperson told US-based news portal Military.com. "We do not allow it on government phones."

You can see the full list of 89 apps banned by the Indian Army below:

Messaging Platforms

WeChat
QQ
Kik
ooVoo
Nimbuzz
Helo
Qzone
Share Chat
Viber
Line
IMO
Snow
To Tok
Hike

Video Hosting

TikTok
Likee
Samosa
Kwali

Content Sharing

Shareit
Xender
Zapya

Web Browsers

UC Browser
UC Browser Mini

Video and Live Streaming

LiveMe
BigoLive
Zoom
Fast Films
Vmate
Uplive
Vigo Video

Utility Apps

Cam Scanner
Beauty Plus
Truecaller

Gaming Apps

PUBG
NONO Live
Clash of Kings
All Tencent gaming apps
Mobile Legends

E-Commerce

Club Factory
AliExpress
Chinabrands
Gearbest
Banggood
MiniInTheBox
Tiny Deal
Dhhgate
LightinTheBox
DX
Eric Dress
Zaful
Tbdress
Modility
Rosegal
Shein
Romwe

Dating Apps

Tinder
TrulyMadly
Happn
Aisle
Coffee Meets Bagel
Woo
OkCupid
Hinge
Badoo
Azar
Bumble
Tantan
Elite Sinles
Tagged
Couch Surfing

Antivirus

360 Security

Networking

Facebook
Baidu
Instagram
Ello
Snapchat

News Apps

Daily Hunt
News Dog

Online Book Reading Apps

Pratilipi

Health Apps

Heal of Y

Lifestyle Apps

POPXO

Knowledge Apps

Vokal

Music Apps

Hungama
Songs.pk

Blogging/ Micro Blogging

Yelp
Tumblr
Reddit
FriendsFeed
Private Blogs

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