Government bans 59 apps including China-based TikTok, WeChat

The IT Ministry said that this move will “safeguard the interests of crores of Indian mobile and internet users"

June 29, 2020 09:19 pm | Updated June 30, 2020 07:56 am IST - New Delhi

Image for representational purpose only.

Image for representational purpose only.

The Government of India on Monday banned 59 applications, most of them popular Chinese applications such as TikTok, Shareit, Mi Video Call, Club Factory and Cam Scanner, citing threat to national security and sovereignty.

The ban comes amid continuing tensions on the border between India and China and covers a variety of applications from e-commerce to gaming, social media, browsers, instant messaging and file sharing.

Order to Google, Apple

“Upon receiving recent credible inputs that such apps pose threat to sovereignty and integrity of India, the Government of India has decided to disallow the usage ... both [on] mobile and non-mobile Internet-enabled devices,” the Ministry of Electronics and IT (Meity) said in statement.

 

According to sources, Meity has issued instructions to Google and Apple to remove the banned applications from their respective application stores. Additionally, telecom operators and Internet service providers will be asked to block access and use of these applications on their networks.

Data | Is an economic boycott of China feasible for India?

The Ministry said it was invoking its 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.

 

“... in view of the emergent nature of threats, [the government] has decided to block 59 apps ... in view of information available [that] they are engaged in activities which are prejudicial to sovereignty and integrity of India, defence of India, security of state and public order,” the government said.

Also read: Ram Vilas Paswan calls for boycott of Chinese goods

Pointing out that there has been “a strong chorus” in the public space to take strict action against such applications, Meity said that besides citizens, it received exhaustive recommendation for blocking these malicious apps from the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre and the Ministry of Home Affairs.

 

The IT Ministry said it received many complaints, including misuse of mobile apps for stealing and surreptitiously transmitting users’ data in an unauthorised manner to servers which have locations outside India. “The compilation of these data, its mining and profiling by elements hostile to national security and defence of India, which ultimately impinges upon the sovereignty and integrity of India, is a matter of very deep and immediate concern which requires emergency measures,” it said.

Also read:  Railway to terminate ₹471 crore signalling contract of Chinese firm

Sanchit Vir Gogia, chief analyst and CEO at Greyhound Research, said the ban was easy to implement. “The government just needs to send clear instructions to operators, Internet service providers and the application stores i.e Google’s Play store and Apple’s App Store,” he said, adding that of the entire list, TikTok, Mi Video Call and Cam Scanner were the three most critical apps that people use in India.

 

The move, he added, effectively gave China a taste of its own medicine as the country had permanently banned applications such as Facebook and Google.

 

Some of the well-known applications in the banned list include TikTok, Shareit, Mi Video Call, Club Factory, UC Browser, Shein, Clash of Kings, Helo, Mi Community, WeChat, Cam Scanner, Clean Master – Cheetah Mobile, Baidu Translate, Mobile Legends.

Full list of apps

1.TikTok

2.Shareit

3.Kwai

4.UC Browser

5.Baidu map

6.Shein

7.Clash of Kings

8.DU battery saver

9.Helo

10.Likee

11.YouCam makeup

12.Mi Community

13.CM Browers

14.Virus Cleaner

15.APUS Browser

16.ROMWE

17.Club Factory

18.Newsdog

19.Beutry Plus

20.WeChat

21.UC News

22.QQ Mail

23.Weibo

24.Xender

25.QQ Music

26.QQ Newsfeed

27.Bigo Live

28.SelfieCity

29.Mail Master

30.Parallel Space

31.Mi Video Call – Xiaomi

32.WeSync

33.ES File Explorer

34.Viva Video – QU Video Inc

35.Meitu

36.Vigo Video

37.New Video Status

38.DU Recorder

39.Vault- Hide

40.Cache Cleaner DU App studio

41.DU Cleaner

42.DU Browser

43.Hago Play With New Friends

44.Cam Scanner

45.Clean Master – Cheetah Mobile

46.Wonder Camera

47.Photo Wonder

48.QQ Player

49.We Meet

50.Sweet Selfie

51.Baidu Translate

52.Vmate

53.QQ International

54.QQ Security Center

55.QQ Launcher

56.U Video

57.V fly Status Video

58.Mobile Legends

59.DU Privacy

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