Chinese apps were banned to stop spread of disinformation, fake information

New Delhi [India], March 4 (ANI): Foreign Secretary Vinay Mohan Kwatra on Saturday said that the Chinese applications were banned in India to stop the spread of misinformation, the spread of disinformation, and fake information.
"To answer your question on what's the interface that government has, to balance the availability of information, availability of misinformation, the spread of disinformation and fake information, that is a balance which each government has to continue address within a given societal matrix," Kwatra said while speaking at the Panel Discussion On 'Showstopper: Currencies Of Power And Persuasion: Reflections On The Future' under the eighth edition of Raisina Dialogue.
He underlined that the balance is the constant thing which the government has to continue to address within a given societal matrix.
"So what you saw, vis-a-vis the banning of various Chinese apps, is no different in that sense," he added.
Pointing to the fact that how technology is moulding the way of going forward, he said that the question emerges whether the society is based on economic model or it is open to embracing technology openly.
"In Indian context, fundamentally when we look at technology, we essentially have 2 sets of binary foundations and the entire template of digital transformation in India is pegged on them. First, open vs close. We've very consciously gone for openness in the use of technology," he added.
"If my economic model is purely based on manufacturing and suddenly manufacturing is open to a burst of automation, then obviously I'll have a massive disruption within my system. But if I have a service economy, it'll probably boom," he added.
"Binary no.2 which forms the foundation is - public good vs private gain. Because of our value system and ethos, we have gone for public good," he said.
In a major crackdown, the Central government of India banned and blocked 138 betting apps and 94 loan lending apps with Chinese links on an 'urgent' and 'emergency' basis in early February this year.
The move was taken after confirming that these apps attract Section 69 of the IT Act as they contain material which is prejudicial to the sovereignty and integrity of India.
The action behind the move is based on several complaints of extortion and harassment of common people who had availed small amounts of loans through the mobile apps being run by those entities and persons.
It is learnt that these apps are the brainchild of Chinese nationals who hired Indians and made them directors in operation. Desperate individuals are lured into taking on a loan and then jacked up the interest by up to 3,000 per cent annually.
When the debtors were unable to repay the interest, let alone the entire loan, individuals representing these apps started harassing those in debt.
They sent them lewd messages, threatening to release their morphed photos and shaming them with messages to their contacts.
The matter came into the spotlight after a spate of suicides, particularly in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, by those who opted for such loans or lost money to betting apps.
States like Telangana, Odisha and Uttar Pradesh as well as central intelligence agencies had then asked the Union Home Ministry to take action against these apps, sources said.
Based on these inputs, the MHA started analysing 28 Chinese loan lending apps six months ago. However, they found that 94 apps are available on e-stores and that others are working through third-party links. The banned apps are now not available to download on smartphones but sources say the betting apps and games are being downloaded through independent links or websites.
The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MIB) issued an advisory, stating that since betting and gambling are illegal in most parts of the country, advertisements of these betting platforms, as well as their surrogates, are also illegal under the provisions of the Consumer Protection Act 2019, Cable TV Network Regulation Act 1995 and the IT Rules, 2021. (ANI)