In another major push to revolt against the Chinese market, the Indian government has now banned 47 more apps for violating user privacy. According to the sources, these 47 banned Chinese apps were operating as clones of the earlier banned 59 applications. However, the government has not officially released the list of these banned apps.
Apart from this, India has also prepared a list of over 250 Chinese apps, including apps linked to Alibaba, Tencent- backed gaming app PUBG, to examine for any user privacy or national security violations.
It has also been expected that some top gaming applications would see a ban in the upcoming list, said sources. The Chinese applications, that are being reviewed, have allegedly been sharing data with the Chinese agencies.
Today's decision is being followed by a high-profile ban of 59 Chinese apps including TikTok, as border tensions were intensified in Ladakh after a violent fistfight between the Indian and Chinese armies. The government said these apps were engaged in activities that were prejudicial to the sovereignty, integrity, and defense of India.
A government press release announcing the ban stated: "The Ministry of Information Technology, invoking it's power under section 69A of the Information Technology Act read with the relevant provisions of the Information Technology (Procedure and Safeguards for Blocking of Access of Information by Public) Rules 2009 and in view of the emergent nature of threats has decided to block 59 apps since in view of the information available they are engaged in activities which are prejudicial to sovereignty and integrity of India, defense of India, the security of the state and public order".
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.
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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.