Amid an ongoing border crisis between India and China, the Indian government announced that it is banning about 59 apps with Chinese origin in the country. The recent announcement from the New Delhi government comes just days after 20 Indian soldiers were martyred in a violent clash at the Galwan Valley near the Line of Actual Control.
In a late night update, The Indian Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology issued an order stating the apps are “prejudicial to sovereignty and integrity of India, defence of India, security of state and public order”.
It is being said that the inputs from intelligence agencies suggested that the apps have been violating the terms of usage, compromising users’ privacy, and are being used as spyware or malware. Within minutes of the announcement, the Indian government’s TikTok account MyGov, which had 1.1 million followers, was disabled.
Following the order, Google and Apple will have to remove these apps from the Android and iOS stores.
The ban is expected to be a big stumbling block for Chinese firms such as Bytedance in India, which have placed big bets in what is one of the world’s biggest web services markets.
Before the development, Bytedance had plans to invest $1bn in India, open a local data centre, and had recently ramped up hiring in the country. India is the biggest driver of TikTok app installations, accounting for 611 million lifetime downloads, or 30.3% of the total, app analytics firm Sensor Tower said in April.
Among other apps that have been banned are Tencent’s WeChat, which has been downloaded more than 100 million times on Google’s Android, Alibaba’s UC Browser and two of Xiaomi’s apps.
Anti-China sentiment has long simmered in India over accusations of cheap imports flooding the country, but the border clash has brought tensions to the fore with calls being made to boycott Chinese products.
India has taken up various retaliatory measures to counter the Chinese. These measures include holding up of containers coming from China, including Apple, Cisco and Dell products at its port for several days. The government has also mandated sellers to display the country of origin details on their products and respective market places.
Earlier, the New Delhi government had stopped any Foreign Direct Investment in Indian companies by China and its citizens. Several ministries and state governments have also put on hold various projects and tenders given to Chinese companies for development in India.
However, it will be worth knowing as to what will happen to the employees working for these Chinese apps and companies. There is no confirmation regarding the possibility of job cuts and office closures in the country, but if this happens, India will see a drastic rise in unemployment and the government will have to intervene to avoid the crisis.
Here is a list of all the banned apps announced by the Indian government:
- TikTok
- Shareit
- Kwai
- UC Browser
- Baidu map
- Shein
- Clash of Kings
- DU battery saver
- Helo
- Likee
- YouCam makeup
- Mi Community
- CM Browers
- Virus Cleaner
- APUS Browser
- ROMWE
- Club Factory
- Newsdog
- Beutry Plus
- UC News
- QQ Mail
- Xender
- QQ Music
- QQ Newsfeed
- Bigo Live
- SelfieCity
- Mail Master
- Parallel Space
- Mi Video Call — Xiaomi
- WeSync
- ES File Explorer
- Viva Video — QU Video Inc
- Meitu
- Vigo Video
- New Video Status
- DU Recorder
- Vault- Hide
- Cache Cleaner DU App studio
- DU Cleaner
- DU Browser
- Hago Play With New Friends
- Cam Scanner
- Clean Master – Cheetah Mobile
- Wonder Camera
- Photo Wonder
- QQ Player
- We Meet
- Sweet Selfie
- Baidu Translate
- Vmate
- QQ International
- QQ Security Center
- QQ Launcher
- U Video
- V fly Status Video
- Mobile Legends
- DU Privacy
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