Google Bans Pakistan Terror Groups App From Google Play Store

Google has placed a ban on a Pakistani terror groups application and deleted it from the Playstore, which is a good development.

In a major defeat for Pakistan, Google has now removed an application linked to a terrorist organization operating on its turf from the Google Play Store. The application was withdrawn from the Playstore after it was discovered to have ties to the Pakistan-based terrorist organization. Because the app broke Google’s regulations, it was withdrawn from of the Play Store.

The Jaish-e-Mohammad-linked software, dubbed ‘Achi Bateen,’ was downloaded over 5,000 times by Android users before being banned from the Play Store.

Pakistan Terror Groups App

The application masked its activities by supporting the Islamic beliefs of a number of Pakistani religious leaders through its website. And it didn’t appear to be affiliated with just about any terrorist organization at first sight. It did, meanwhile, have two connections on it’s own page, including one that offered softcopy of various books authored by Maulana Masood Azhar, the leader of Jaish-e-Mohammad. A second quote on the development page, from the other hand, contained voice messages of the Jaish-e-Mohammad head.

Innefu Labs, a Delhi-based digital lab that performed a technical audit of the app for India Today, discovered some flaws in its performance. The app is linked to servers located in the Contabo datacentre in Germany.

“The software requested permission that were unrelated to its operation. This is common whenever want to adding features to an app before seeking the user for approval,” Tarun Wig, co-founder of Innefu Lab, which investigated the application, told the newspaper. He further claimed that the ‘Achi Bateen’ software’s conduct was identical with that of the UC Features of the site, which was prohibited in India last year.

A most serious consequence of the Jaish-e-Mohammad software was that this was designed to run continuously without notifying the phone’s owner. The software accesses a sender’s storage and networking data, as well as music as well as other files, in additional to their position.

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The terror organization JeM has been banned by that of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) since 2001, and the US Department of Justice has designated it as a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO). The program, meanwhile, is still available on Google Play, which is controlled by computer company and software company Google.

The so-called free ‘learning’ software, which has over 5000 installations, features quotes, messages, and links to books by many Pakistani Islamic clerics. The program also offers links to various web domains where Masood Azhar and his associates’ books, writings, and voice files can be found.

Surprisingly, the app was only released in December of 2020, and it contains previous articles written by Masood Azhar under the pen name ‘Saadi,’ a pseudonym associated with the JeM head.

“The programme communicates with servers in the Contabo datacentre in Germany. “This corporation is in the spotlight for neglecting copyright claims filed by many people,” Tarun Wig, co-founder of Innefu Laboratory, told India Today.

The Google Play Store’s anti-hate speech policy.

The corporation does not enable applications which encourage violence or stir up hatred against individuals or groups basis of race or ethnic background, religious doctrine, incapacity, maturity level, ethnicity, veteran status, gender preference, gender, gender identity, or other attribute systemic discriminatory practices or marginalisation, per the Google Play Narrative Policy.

They seem to be comfortable with anything that advocates fighting a war against India, yet also tend to restrict material relating to Nazis. “Educational, Documentary, Scientific, or Artistic) material relating to Nazis may be restricted in some places, in accordance with legal and regulatory requirements,” according to the policy.

The statement said, “It became reported that Thawban, the Messenger of Allah’s liberated prisoner, said: “There seem to be 2 categories of Ummah that Allaah can free first from Burn: the team that intrudes India, and the company that has been with ‘Isa bin Maryam, happiness come unto you.”

From 2016, this specific Extremist Islamic book has been available. It was created by Muhammad Adeel Khan’s Pakistani organisation Tareensoft. According to Adeel’s Freelance account, the place is headquartered in Lahore.

It was downloaded over 5,000 times by Android users. The app featured sermons from a number of Pakistani religious leaders. India Today had previously disclosed the developers’ covert ties to a United Nations-designated terrorist organisation.

The smartphone application does not appear to have any open ties to the Jaish from the outside. The smartphone app’s creators, on the other hand, had 2 sections on their site that led to soft copies of many books written by JeM chief Maulana Masood Azhar.

Masood Azhar, his brother Abdul Rauf Asghar, and close colleague Talha Saif were all recorded on the second link on the developer page.

Asghar, the alleged ringleader behind the hijack of Indian Passenger plane 814 and the terrorist incident in Pathankot, is thought to be the group’s operations leader.

Masood Azhar’s past write-ups under the pen title “Saadi,” a well-known pseudonym with the JeM head, were also found on the page. Talha Saif, Masood Azhar’s close colleague, frequently reads aloud Masood Azhar’s weekly write-ups and distributes the voice tapes to his supporters.

“The programme requested permissions that were unrelated to its functioning. This happens a lot whenever want to add new features to an application without asking the consumers for approval,” Tarun Wig, co-founder of Innefu Laboratory, explained.

Read Also: Some of Fake Apps Which Banned by Google Play Store

Wig claims that the conduct was comparable to that of the Chinese UC browser, which has previously been prohibited in India.

Users’ networks and GPS (Global Positioning System) addresses were accessible by the app. This could start immediately once the smart phone was turned on, and it could operate in the background indefinitely.

It had accessibility to a device’s location, both estimated and precise, internet, memory, media, as well as other files.