After TikTok, India bans PUBG, 117 more Chinese mobile apps
What's the story
Amid fresh provocation by Chinese in Ladakh, India's Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology has banned as many as 118 Chinese applications.
The list of blocked apps includes Tencent's highly popular battle royale title PUBG Mobile as well as other services like APUS Launcher, Ludo World, ShareSave by Xiaomi, Baidu, Tencent Weiyun, Rise of Kingdoms: Lost Crusade, and ZAKZAK.
Here are more details.
Reason
Apps engaged in activities prejudicial to sovereignty of India
According to a statement from the Ministry, all 118 apps were engaged in activities prejudicial to the sovereignty and integrity of India, defense of India, the security of state and public order.
It claimed that a number of complaints has been received from various sources that the apps stole and surreptitiously transmitted users' data to servers located outside the nation's boundaries.
Twitter Post
Here is the complete list of banned apps
Government blocks 118 mobile apps which are prejudicial to sovereignty and integrity of India, Defence of India, Security of State and Public Order: Govt of India
— ANI (@ANI) September 2, 2020
PUBG MOBILE Nordic Map: Livik, PUBG MOBILE LITE, WeChat Work WeChat reading are among the banned mobile apps. pic.twitter.com/VWrg3WUnO8
Threat
They could pose a threat to national security
This unauthorized transmission could lead to misuse of data and pose a threat to national security, the Ministry added.
It said, "The compilation of these data, its mining, and profiling by elements hostile to national security and defense 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."
Notices
Notice sent for blocking the controversial apps
The Ministry noted that the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre, under the Ministry of Home Affairs, has sent an exhaustive letter, recommending the blocking of these controversial applications as soon as possible.
This move, it emphasized, would safeguard the interests of crores of Indian mobile and internet users while ensuring the safety, security, and sovereignty of the Indian cyberspace.
Previous ban
Over 100 apps were banned before
The action against the apps comes two months after 59 Chinese applications, including TikTok, SHAREit, WeChat, and many others were banned over similar concerns.
A month later, 47 more apps were banned, which mostly included the clones and duplicates of the originally banned apps as well as some new names like Xiaomi's Mi Browser, Baidu's apps for search, maps, translation, and Weibo.