After the recent ban on 59 Chinese apps banned in India, the Government of India may further ban some more apps in India.
A list of 275 Chinese apps has been drawn by the government which will be examined for any violations of national security and user privacy and the apps are likely to be banned, Economic Times reports. There would be a ban on all 275 Chinese apps or none at all.
The report has listed apps like popular gaming app PUBG which is backed by China’s internet major Tencent, Zili by Xiaomi, Resso and ULike apps from TikTok-owner ByteDance and AliExpress by Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba.
India is the largest market of PUBG. According to estimates from app intelligence firm Sensor Tower, PUBG has generated about 17.5 crore installs to date.
Amongst the apps that are on the government’s radar are 14 MI apps by Xiaomi as well as lesser-known ones such as Capcut and FaceU. Apps from other Chinese internet and tech majors like Meitu, LBE Tech, Perfect Corp, Sina Corp, Netease Games, Yoozoo Global are also under the government radar.
ET has claimed that a senior govt official said “Some of these apps have been red-flagged due to security reasons while others have been listed for violation of data sharing and privacy concerns”. Additionally, the government is examining the alleged flow of data from these apps to China that poses a threat to the sovereignty and integrity of India.
Another senior government official told ET that the government is looking to formalise a process for such bans and the concerned ministry has been asked to frame a law or circular or some form of regulation for constant scrutiny of the apps operating in India. He said “A set of rules or defined procedures may take time but is the correct process to go about it in the future.”
An official from the Ministry of Electronics and Information technology (MeitY) said the Centre will follow due process before imposing such a ban. “There is a process involved, there is a committee in place for such ban orders. If there is such an order, then MeitY will act,” the official said.
On June 29, the Indian government banned 59 Chinese apps that include some of some popular apps like popular Browser UC Browser, TikTok, ShareIt, WeChat, the mobile game Clash of Kings, and apps from Xiaomi. The decision was taken after tension between the Indian and Chinese governments following a clash at their borders