Ban on BGMI could be similar to that of PUBG: Here’s the reason and why – Times of India

Government of India has ordered Google And Apple To block the popular battle royale game Battlegrounds India, aka BGMI. of south korea crafton Developer of popular gaming apps. While Crafton has confirmed that the game has been removed from the Google Play Store and Apple App Store following a government order, there is still no clarity on why exactly the game has been banned.
Now an IANS report quoting sources claims that the BGMI gaming app has been banned under Section 69A of the Information Technology Act, 2000. Section 69A of the Information Technology Act is used to restrict access to any material in the interest of sovereignty and integrity. of the country, the security of the state, friendly relations with foreign states or public order. This is the same act that was used to ban PUBG in September 2020. Over 270 Chinese apps blocked in India since June 2020 have been banned under the same act.
“The government is committed to protecting the interests of citizens and the sovereignty and integrity of India on all fronts and will take all possible steps to ensure that,” read a government statement. The order further stated that the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) has issued an order to block access of these apps by users in India based on a comprehensive report received from the Indian Cyber ​​Crime Coordination Centre, Ministry of Home Affairs.
After the ban on PUBG, Crafton officially broke ties with Tencent in India. Crafton announced the launch of the BGMI game in May 2021. The game was eventually released on July 2 with almost identical gameplay. Crafton’s India bet is also paying off as BGMI has crossed 100 million registered users in India in a span of just one year.
Demand to ban BGMI under section 69A
In February this year, hitA non-profit organization (NGO) working in the field of socio-economic development had written to the government seeking a ban on BGMI under the same section (69A of the Information Technology Act). In the letter, the NGO said that the app needs to be banned as it is a threat to the sovereignty and integrity of India. It claimed that Crafton is a leading company of China’s leading Internet company Tencent Holdings. It further said that Tencent is the second largest shareholder of Crafton with 15.5% of the shares.
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Prahar has welcomed the ban on BGMI. From February this year, we have raised the fact that BGMI and banned PUBG are one and the same. In the so-called new avatar, BGMI was no different from the predecessor PUBG, with Tencent still controlling it in the background, Prahaar president Abhay Mishra said in a statement. interests of India’s security and sovereignty,” he said.