India News

Crackdown on Chinese apps continues; Govt bans 54 more

Ban on Chinese apps due to possible threat to national security

Continuing with its scrutiny and ban on Chinese apps that could prove to be a threat to national security, the India government has slapped a halt on 54 more such apps.

The Union Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology has stated that it found these apps, numbering 54, had obtained various critical permissions and collects sensitive user data.  

With the latest round of ban, the Union government has blocked as many 321 apps ever since the border tensions with China started showing up, in May 2020.

Chinese apps ban under Section 69A of IT Act

The ban has been slapped on the apps as they were found to be collecting real-time data and misusing them. The apps allegedly transmitted data to servers located in a hostile country. The ban has been brought in as per the Section 69A of the Information Technology Act.

Among the banned apps are Beauty Camera – Selfie Camera, Garena Free Fire – Illuminate, Sweet Selfie HD,  Viva Video Editor, Tencent Xriver, Dual Space Lite and Onmyoji Arena.

The ban on these apps follows the government decision to ban 59 other apps including the immensely popular social media platforms such as Tik Tok, WeChat and Helo. The reason notified was the same – they were indulging in activity that could prove to be a threat to the nation’s sovereignty and security.

Apps ban followed border tension

It may be recalled that the bans came out soon after escalation of a border row with China happened. In June 2020, a few days after 20 Indian soldiers lost their lives in a clash with Chinese troops at Galwan Valley in eastern Ladakh, the government decided to bring about the first round of app bans.

The Chinese apps issue was pushed to the fore after the eastern Ladakh border standoff between the India and China armies blew over on May 5, 2020. This had followed a clash in the Pangong Lake areas, and later resulted in the Galwan Valley clash of June 15, that led to loss of lives.

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Sanjeev Ramachandran

A journalist with 23 years of experience, Sanjeev has worked with reputed media houses such as Business Standard, The Ne More »
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