Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology doubles down on Chinese app ban, blocking 118 more

 

The Ministry's latest move, once again made on grounds that such apps are engaged in activities that threaten India's soverignty and security, appears to be making a statement by including exactly double the number of mostly Chinese apps banned initially.     

 

Among them, is a wide variety of games including the popular but violent shooter game PUBG Mobile, owned by Tencent. It also includes music players, video platforms like Youku, social platforms including WeChat Work, web browsers and search engines like Baidu, payment systems like Alipay and apps for learning the Chinese language. The ban list also consists of VPNs to access TikTok.  

 

The statement added, "There have been similar bipartisan concerns, flagged by various public representatives, both outside and inside the Parliament of India. There has been a strong chorus in the public space to take strict action against Apps that harm India’s sovereignty as well as the privacy of our citizens. On the basis of these and upon receiving of recent credible inputs that information posted, permissions sought, functionality embedded as well as data harvesting practices of above stated Apps raise serious concerns that these Apps collect and share data in surreptitious manner and compromise personal data and information of users that can have a severe threat to security of the State. This move will safeguard the interests of crores of Indian mobile and internet users. This decision is a targeted move to ensure safety, security and sovereignty of Indian cyberspace."

 

FULL LIST OF BANNED APPS