No proposal to revoke blocking orders against Chinese apps: Ashwini Vaishnaw
The MeitY had earlier blocked 224 mobile apps under the provisions of section 69A of the Information Technology Act, 2000
The central has asserted that it will not lift the ban on Chinese apps like TikTok, SHAREit, and PUBG, Minister for Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), Ashwini Vaishnaw has said in the Lok Sabha.
"No, Sir. There is no proposal with the Ministry to revoke the blocking orders," Vaishnaw said in a written response to the Lok Sabha.
Earlier, the MeitY had informed that it has blocked 224 mobile apps under the provisions of section 69A of the Information Technology Act, 2000, in the interest of sovereignty and integrity of India, defence of India, and security of State.
"Blocking of such Apps has been done on national security concerns and thus linkage with any country may not be disclosed in public domain," the ministry had stated.
South Korean gaming company Krafton has relaunched PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds (PUBG) in India in a new avatar called Battlegrounds Mobile India. Reports state that ByteDance plans to relaunch TikTok in India soon under a new name called TickTock as the company has filed a trademark for the same name.
On the question whether any policy is under consideration of the government to develop any Google like browser in the country to check the increasing cyber crimes, Vaishnaw said that there are many internet browsers already available including open source browsers. He also stated that police is a state subject and for better regulation of cyber crimes, broader consensus with states is required.
Responding to a question whether the continuous transmission of obscene materials through phone can be checked by the recently made rules/law for regulating web series, OTT, the minister said that the government has notified the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021 under Information Technology Act, 2000, on 25th February 2021.
