Delhi, 21 April (H.S.): The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) and the Survey of India (SoI) have ordered Google to remove the Chinese chat app ‘Ablo’ from its Play Store due to its inaccurate representation of India’s territorial borders. The app has over 10,000 downloads and misrepresents the Union Territories of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh while completely omitting Lakshadweep Island from its map. The government’s notice cites the Criminal Law (Amendment) Act, 1990, which penalizes such misrepresentations with potential imprisonment of up to six months and fines.

MeitY emphasized that the erroneous depiction of India’s external boundaries threatens the nation’s sovereignty. In its notice, MeitY invoked Section 79(3)(b) of the Information Technology Act, 2000, instructing intermediaries to quickly remove content that contravenes Indian laws. This issue was highlighted in discussions with SoI, and the ministry tasked SoI with pursuing legal action against such apps.

The Supreme Court’s 2015 ruling in Shreya Singhal v. Union of India strengthens the requirement for intermediaries to comply with valid government requests. Google has initiated compliance, as evidenced by the app’s unavailability on both Google Play and Apple’s App Store for Indian users. Previously, similar concerns were raised regarding other apps and digital platforms.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar