The Army Has Asked Personnel to Delete 89 Apps Including Facebook, Tiktok

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.