India Bans 60 Chinese Apps Including Tiktok Amid Border Standoff
The government of India, on Monday 29 June, finally banned 60 Chinese apps that are allegedly stealing the crucial users’ data to the networks outside India. The 60 mobile apps include a range of popular applications used by millions of users, including Share it, TikTok, and UC browser. The ban has been imposed under Section 69A of the IT Act, 2000. The IT center has received several complaints from diverse sources, and thus an immediate action was taken by the division.
The ban that the Indian Ministry of Electronics and IT has ordered was announced on Twitter. But the buzz around the Chinese app ban in the country is going for a long time. The Anti-China reaction was the trending hashtag in India in the past few weeks, since the border clash between the two leading countries. In this border dispute among the two powerful nations, 20 Indian soldiers were martyred. This situation leads to ban Chinese product slogans and posts trending on major social media platforms in India.
List of 60 Chinese apps: The official list
- TikTok
- Mi Community
- SHAREit
- Clash of Kings
- DU recorder
- YouCam Makeup
- DU Battery Saver
- DU Browser
- DU Cleaner
- DU Privacy
- DU Recorder
- Clean Master — Cheetah
- Cache Cleaner
- DU Apps Studio
- Baidu Translate
- Baidu Map
- QQ Launcher
- QQ Security Centre
- QQ Player
- QQ Music
- QQ Mail
- QQ NewsFeed
- WeSync
- QQ International
- New Video Status
- V Fly Status Video
- Mobile Legends
- Vmate
- ES File Explorer
- Mi Video call-Xiaomi
- Parallel Space
- SelfieCity
- Mail Master
- Vault-Hide
- Vigo Video
- Bigo Live
- UC News
- UC Browser
- BeautyPlus
- Xender
- ClubFactory
- Helo
- LIKEE
- Kwai
- ROMWE
- SHEIN
- NewsDog
- Wonder Camera
- Photo Wonder
- APUS Browser
- VivaVideo- QU Video Inc
- CM Browser
- Virus Cleaner (Hi Security Lab)
- Meitu
- Hago Play With New Friends
- Cam Scanner
- We Meet
- Sweet Selfie
It is the first time when India has prohibited any foreign app. Some of the banned apps are comparatively less popular, but many of them are well-liked, including the short video platform TikTok and file sharing app ShareIt. As we know, with this conflict, China is going to lose a considerable business. According to the reports by leading firms, India has the world’s second-largest internet marketplace, with almost 50% of its population online. These 60 apps together had above 500 M active users monthly in May.
In addition to the above, Cybersecurity experts also have warned the information technology sector about the risks Chinese apps and telecommunication companies may create. According to the reports, Chinese companies are accountable for providing the access details, and support for Chinese intelligence gathering.
◾️Know more about the impact of the 60 Chinese apps ban
The applications banned by Indian electronics and IT ministry are trending in India for a long time, mainly TikTok, which has more than 100 million users. The short video app was used by millions of individuals in the country to showcase their acting and dancing skills. The new social media platform like Helo and Likee applications launched by China on Google and Apple store were also immensely liked by Indians. Moreover, most of these banned applications have offices in India, and for many individuals, these apps are the only basis of income. This step in India could risk thousands of careers in India.
Along with the 60 applications ban, there is some argument around a drive to convince Western countries not to authorize Chinese companies to build their wireless networks based on 5G technology.
When it comes to the leading social platform TikTok, it would be interesting to see whether the ban will be permanent or the country will take out the ban after some time. The short video app has also witnessed a ban in India last year for a couple of days on Madras High Court order. The step taken by the government of India is well-thought-out planning and could be a word of warning to leading Chinese businesses in China and India.
◾️ How internet users banned apps?
The internet service providers in India accepted the announcement and followed all the given instructions to block these apps. Now the app user’s when opening these applications on their mobile device, are likely to see a message saying access to the app is prohibited or a network error message. The apps have been restricted by internet providers, as per the request of the government.
However, the users can still use the applications that not need an internet connection for working while this step mainly impacted apps like TikTok and UC News that need the internet to serve any purpose. But you cannot download these applications from the Google and Apple store anymore. These applications are also blocked on the Apple App Store and Google Play Store.
Conclusion:
In a nutshell, the 60 banned apps list contains various apps that are used for different purposes. Few of the apps come with devices, especially the Xiaomi-branded apps, which cannot be uninstalled from the mobile phone. It would be complicated to remove the stock apps as this step will affect the processing of the device. This indicates that the government needs to ban the phone itself, too.
This may be a crucial change for the country. Meanwhile, if you are in India and using any of the applications mentioned above in your phone, you are technically violating the ban and not helping the nation in this significant step.
