India has banned 59 Chinese App last month. Now a new report suggests that there are 275 more apps are in the Indian Government’s radar. The government is monitoring these apps for any violation of national security and user privacy. If found guilty then the government will most likely ban them too.
According to the ET report, this list includes PUBG, one of the most popular video games in India. PUBG is backed by the Chinese tech giant Tencent. This list includes apps like Zili by phone maker Xiaomi, AliExpress by eCommerce giant Alibaba, Resso, and ULike from TikTok-owner ByteDance.
Amongst the apps that are on the government’s radar are 14 MI apps by Xiaomi as well as lesser-known ones such as Capcut and FaceU. Apps from other Chinese internet and tech majors like Meitu, LBE Tech, Perfect Corp, Sina Corp, Netease Games, Yoozoo Global are also present. Also in the list are companies such as Helsinki-based Supercell that have investments by Chinese technology companies. Tencent bought a majority stake in the gaming company last year.
According to a source cited by the report, “The government may ban all, some or none from the list. Some of these apps have been red-flagged due to security reasons while others have been listed for violation of data sharing and privacy concerns”.
Another senior government official told ET that the government is looking to formalize a process for such bans and the concerned ministry has been asked to frame a law or circular or some form of regulation for constant scrutiny of the apps operating in India. “A set of rules or defined procedures may take time but is the correct process to go about it in the future,” the person said.
An official from the ministry of electronics and information technology (MeitY) told ET that the Indian government will follow due process before undertaking any ban. “There is a process involved, there is a committee in place for such ban orders. If there is such an order, then MeitY will act,” the person said.