India bans 119 mobile apps, mostly Chinese: Know why
What's the story
The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) has ordered the blocking of 119 apps, mostly video and voice chat platforms.
Google revealed the news via the Lumen Database, a Harvard University-run platform that monitors content removal requests from governments and other organizations.
Most of these apps are associated with developers hailing from China and HongKong.
App removal
Only 15 apps have been removed so far
So far, only 15 of the 119 apps have been pulled from availability in India. The rest still remain available for download.
A smaller fraction of these apps belong to developers from Singapore, the US, the UK, and Australia.
The reason behind this partial enforcement is still not clear as Google's disclosure didn't offer any explanation for the delay.
Legal basis
Blocking orders issued under IT Act
The blocking orders were issued under Section 69A of the Information Technology Act, which gives the government the authority to block public access to online content for national security, sovereignty, or public order reasons.
This comes after similar bans in 2020 on popular Chinese apps such as TikTok and ShareIt.
The Indian government had also banned nearly 100 Chinese apps on June 20, 2020.
Developer reactions
App developers respond to blocking orders
Three app developers impacted by the blocking order have confirmed that they were informed of the action by Google.
They said they are willing to cooperate with the Indian government in addressing this issue.
However, some developers have raised concerns over the absence of specific reasons given by authorities for these actions.
App concerns
ChillChat and ChangApp express concerns over blocking order
ChillChat, a popular app from Singapore-based Mangostar Team with over a million downloads on Google Play Store, confirmed getting the news of their app being blocked.
A company spokesperson said that such an action would have a major impact on both developers and users in India.
Likewise, China-based ChangApp's developer Blom also got a blocking order and feared it would affect their business.