The ministry of electronics and information technology (MeitY), as per sources, stated that apps including TikTok and 58 other Chinese apps have to face a permanent ban on these apps in India.
The report first came from Mint, citing the source close to the development that said, “The government is not satisfied with the response/explanation given by these companies. Hence, the ban for these 59 apps is permanent now”.
To recall, back in June of 2020, MeitY had banned 59 apps, including Bytedance’s TikTok, Alibaba’s UC Browser and Tencent’s WeChat, citing that they are ‘engaged in activities, which is prejudicial to sovereignty and integrity of India, defence of India, security of state and public order’.
The ban was followed by multiple other China-based applications including the famous PUBG Mobile, and the government had asked for responses from all the companies regarding the data collection policies and how that data was utilized. A detailed questionnaire was also sent to the companies by the ministry but it seems like the government is not satisfied with the responses, hence, the permanent ban became effective.
Over the course of the last 6 months, the Government has imposed a ban on a total of 208 china-based applications, the reason for which was the rising border tensions between India and China. The apps were banned under section 69A of the Information Technology Act.
“We are evaluating the notice and will respond to it as appropriate. TikTok was among the first companies to comply with the government of India directive issued on June 29, 2020. We continually strive to comply with local laws and regulations and do our best to address any concerns the government may have. Ensuring the privacy and security of all our users remains to be our topmost priority,” a TikTok spokesperson told Mint, commenting on the development.
It also seems that PUBG won’t be able to make a comeback anytime soon even though it had started teasing the Indian variant of the game back in November. Recent reports also stated that the ministry had not given any ‘go-ahead’ to the Gaming app for the release of the Indian variant.