June 30, 2020: The Government of India banned 59 Chinese applications, including leading social media platform Tik Tok, WeChat and Hello app to counter the security threats posed by these applications to nation’s “security & sovereignty”, it is confirmed in a press release late on Monday. Likee, Hello, and top eCommerce shopping app Club Factory are among these 59 apps on the radar of the Indian government that have been blocked amid escalating tensions between India and China following a violent face-off two weeks ago.
The officials said that applications are engaged in activities “prejudicial to sovereignty and integrity of India, security & defence of India, safety of state & public order.” The restrictions have been imposed under section 69A of the Information Technology Act combined with relevant provisions of the Information Technology (procedure and safeguards to block the access of information by public) rules 2009, it said. The government also filed complaint data of Indian users being transferred abroad without authorization.
This move comes after CITA and India Trade Organization start protesting against China and demanding a ban of Chinese application after 20 Indian soldiers were martyred in a violent face-off at the eastern Ladakh border.
Tik Tok has nearly 119 million users in India and was among top 10 applications on the Google Play store and Apple App store. Users who still have Tik Tok app on their mobile can use it, however the app cannot be downloaded anymore from Google Play store and Apple App store as well. Most Chinese apps banned in India are still available on the Google Play store.
It must be noted that if you have any app installed on your smartphone, you’ll be seeing it on the Google Play store. Once you uninstall, it will no longer be visible there.
The Compilation of data, it’s mining and profiling by elements endanger the country’s security and defense, which ultimately threatens the sovereignty and integrity of India. “It is a very deep and immediate concern which needs emergency measures,” is said. “There have been increasing concerns on aspects regarding data security and safeguarding the privacy of 130 Crore Indians. It must be noted recently that such concerns also pose a threat to the sovereignty and security of our country.”
There are plenty of Indian sort video applications available on Google Play store and Apple App store including Chingaria, Bolo Indya, Roposo, Mitron among others. Commenting on Chinese app banned in India Sumit Ghosh, Co-Founder and Chief Product Officer, Chingari App said, “This is an appreciable step taken by India government and IT Ministry of India, for many years TIk Tok has been spying on the users and sending data to the Chinese authorities. We are happy that this step has finally taken. I thank and congratulate Narendra Modi sir. And we assure we would like to welcome Tik Tok users to come and try our Chingari, which is 100% Indian grown and designed for passionate Indians.”
Here are the 59 Chinese Apps Banned by Indian Government
