Govt bans 59 Chinese apps including TikTok, UC Browser, Shein, Helo, Likee, WeChat, Shareit
Govt bans 59 Chinese apps including TikTok, UC Browser, Shein, Helo, Likee, WeChat, Shareit
In a major decision, the government on Monday banned at least 59 Chinese apps including TikTok. Many popular apps like Shareit, Helo, Shein, Likee, WeChat, UC Browser also figured among the list of the banned Chinese apps. The decision, aimed at "safeguarding" the interests of crores of Indian mobile and internet users, is a targeted move to ensure the safety and sovereignty of Indian cyberspace, the Ministry of Electronics, and Information Technology said in the official notification.
Edited by: India TV News DeskNew DelhiUpdated on: June 29, 2020 23:22 IST
Govt bans 59 Chinese apps including TikTok, UC Browser, Shein, Helo, Likee, WeChat, Shareit
In a major decision, the government on Monday banned at least 59 Chinese apps including TikTok. Many popular apps like Shareit, Helo, Shein, Likee, WeChat, UC Browser also figured among the list of the banned Chinese apps. The decision, aimed at "safeguarding" the interests of crores of Indian mobile and internet users, is a targeted move to ensure the safety and sovereignty of Indian cyberspace, the Ministry of Electronics, and Information Technology said in the official notification. The ban comes in the backdrop of current stand-off along the Line of Actual Control in Ladakh with Chinese troops. In the month of June, at least 20 Indian soldiers were martyred in a fierce clash with the Chinese at Galwan Valley.
"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 is prejudicial to sovereignty and integrity of India, defence of India, security of state and public order," the notification read.
FULL LIST OF CHINESE APPS BANNED BY GOVT:
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
People have long been demanding a ban on TikTok, which has over 200 million users in India. While Likee and Vigo Video are popular short video creation platforms, Club Factory and Shein are e-commerce platforms that were looking at expanding their presence to compete with larger rivals like Myntra. WeChat is a Chinese multi-purpose messaging and social media app that rivals WhatsApp. On the other hand, CamScanner is a popular app that allows users to scan images and share them. Shareit app allows users to share files between devices while Helo, a social media platform, is owned by ByteDance, the parent firm of TikTok. Alibaba's UC Browser is a mobile Internet browser that has been available in India since 2009. It claimed to have registered 1.1 billion user downloads worldwide (excluding China) in September 2019, with half of its global installs from India. It also claimed to have 130 million monthly active users in the country at that time, news agency PTI reported.
In the notification, the ministry said it received many complaints from various sources including several reports about misuse of some mobile apps available on Android and iOS platforms for stealing and surreptitiously transmitting users’ data in an unauthorized 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," the ministry informed.
It said that the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre, Ministry of Home Affairs has also sent an exhaustive recommendation for blocking these malicious apps. This Ministry has also received many representations raising concerns from citizens regarding the security of data and risk to privacy relating to the operation of certain apps, it said. "The Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-IN) has also received many representations from citizens regarding the security of data and breach of privacy impacting upon public order issues. Likewise, there have been similar bipartisan concerns, flagged by various public representatives, both outside and inside the Parliament of India. There has been a strong chorus in the public space to take strict action against Apps that harm India’s sovereignty as well as the privacy of our citizens," the ministry expressed concern.
