The government has banned 47 Chinese apps in India. Near the end of June, 59 Chinese apps had been banned by the government to “protect national interest and security” — including the hugely popular TikTok app. Now, almost 50 more apps have been banned, for operating as clones of the previously banned apps — the list of particular apps banned in the fresh decision is yet to be announced. However, it has been reported that the announcement would take place officially shortly. The government earlier banned apps including CamScanner, SHAREit, and UC Browser, among others. That ban was announced under the provisions of Section 69A of the Information Technology Act.
The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology has banned 47 apps which were variants and cloned copies of the 59 Chinese apps that were banned in June. These 47 banned app clones include Tiktok Lite, Helo Lite, SHAREit Lite, BIGO LIVE Lite, and VFY Lite, news agency ANI reported.
India has also prepared a list of over 250 Chinese apps, including apps linked to Alibaba, that it will examine for any user privacy or national security violations, government sources told India Today TV. The list also includes Tencent-backed gaming app PUBG.
A day later, Google said it has removed all the banned applications from the Play Store. Following the ban, TikTok refuted the claims that suggest it will pursue legal action against the Indian government for banning the app in India.
Reacting to the 59 apps banned by India, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said the country is “strongly concerned regarding the decision of the Indian government”.
“China is strongly concerned, verifying the situation,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian was quoted as saying by news agency ANI.
“We want to stress that the Chinese government always asks Chinese businesses to abide by international and local laws-regulations. The Indian government has a responsibility to uphold the legal rights of international investors including Chinese ones,” Zhao Lijian said.
