The navy has banned smartphones at naval bases, dockyards and on-board warships. (Representational)
After seven navy personnel were allegedly caught leaking sensitive information to Pakistani intelligence agencies after being honey-trapped, the Indian Navy has banned the use of Facebook by its officials.
It has also banned smartphones at naval bases, dockyards and on-board warships.
The "stringent" step was taken by the navy soon after seven naval personnel were caught leaking sensitive information to enemy intelligence agencies over social media, navy officials said.
In an internal order, the navy said the ban on messaging apps, networking and blogging, content sharing, hosting, e-commerce sites is under promulgation.
Earlier this month, the Andhra Pradesh Police had busted a spy racket run on social media by Pakistani Intelligence operatives in which seven officials were arrested from Vishakhapatnam, Karwar and Mumbai.
Navy officials said restrictions had been imposed earlier too on its personnel over the use of social media and other networking sites.