India’s Ministry of Electronics and IT had initially banned a total of 59 Chinese apps on the 29th of June. It further banned 118 more Chinese apps on September 2 under the Section 29A of the IT Act. Most talked about Chinese apps banned so far have included gaming giant PUBG Mobile app as well as the trending short video sharing platform, TikTok. CHECK OUT: TIKTOK ALTERNATIVE APPS MADE IN INDIA MeitY said in its statement that the latest action of ban has been taken after it received inputs about these apps engaging in suspicious activities. The select Chinese apps are accused of engaging in activities “prejudicial to sovereignty and integrity of India, defence of India, security of state and public order”. It further noted that the order was issued on the basis of various comprehensive reports received from the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Center under the Ministry of Home Affairs.
Following are the 43 Chinese appsrecently banned in India –
You can also view the earlier list of 118 banned Chinese apps in our article, “INDIA BANS PUBG MOBILE AND 118 APPS: THE FULL LIST OF BANNED APPS”
Indian Techpreneurs Express Support for the Latest Ban
Notably, executive line of various Made in India apps have also came forward in supporting the ban. Aditya Narang, SafeHouse Technologies, Co-founde and MD has reportedly said that the biggest security concern right now is that a lot of the apps are collecting massive amount of data (which doesn’t even have anything to do with the provided service. He highlighted that these apps take various security-sensitive and intrusive permissions which an ordinary user may not understand yet end up agreeing to. He further advised users to ensure that their smartphones are protected, secured and encrypted as the threat to secure user data is constantly rising in the present times. Varun Saxena, Bolo Indya, Founder and CEO also shared a similar opinion. He said that the latest ban is yet another welcome move from the government to stand against Chinese apps that have always raised serious privacy concerns.
‘An Opportune Time for Aatmanirbhar Bharat Mission’
Dr Ajay Data, Video Meet Founder and CEO has said, “Indian user base is also supporting the authorities on this front due to the geopolitical tensions our country is facing, and the realisation of how data breaching can impact their businesses in long run has also strengthened”. He further added that it is a great time for Indian tech community to work towards making India’s IT framework more resilient and help homegrown apps go global. He has also expressed hope that this period will help the industry to contribute towards the ambitions of self-reliance and Atmanirbhar Bharat. Sumit Ghosh, Co-Founder, CEO ofChingari, the emerging TikTok alternative had also hailed the ban calling it a smart move. Ghosh said that it will send out a clear message to all Chinese apps that they cannot use such tactics to engage in activities that are prejudicial to India’s sovereignty. ALSO READ: CHINGARI APP EMERGES AS TOP TIKTOK ALTERNATIVE IN INDIA WITH 38MN USERS
