The Intelligence Bureau (IB) has proposed a ban on Chinese mobile messengers including We Chat following concerns that proliferation of such services can pose a threat to national security.
Blocking access to such websites in accordance with the licensing conditions governing Internet service providers is one way of checking them, the country's internal intelligence agency pointed out at the second meeting of the inter-agency operational working group on June 4.
According to an internal note reviewed by ET , deputy national security advisor Nehchal Sandhu asked IB to discuss the matter with the home ministry and the telecom department to devise a methodology to block access to such sites.
We Chat, an instant mobile messaging application, claims a worldwide subscriber base of 300 million and competes with popular mobile applications such as Whatsapp and BlackBerry messenger. With revenue from SMS on the decline, telecom operators have been exploring tie-ups with such messengers to shore up their data revenue.
Sandhu also proposed to limit the access of various ministries and departments to Internet so as to make government's communication more secure. "A limited number of interface points could be effectively protected. The DRDO has floated a paper on the subject," he said.
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