In sensational development, the Indian government has blocked 43 new ‘Chinese mobile apps’ in the country. The popular shopping website identified as AliExpress has also been banned in India. The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology had banned these mobile apps under Section 69A of the Information Technology Act.
As per official press release, the government said, “this action was taken based on the inputs regarding these apps for engaging in activities which are prejudicial to sovereignty and integrity of India, defence of India, security of state and public order.” The order was issued immediately after the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Center, Ministry of Home Affairs submitted comprehensive reports.
In a significant decision, the Indian government has banned as many as 59 Chinese applications including TikTok. Several popular applications including Shareit, Helo, Likee, WeChat, UC Browser, Shein have been mentioned among the list of banned Chinese apps. On September 2, the government had banned 118 more apps.
Take a look at the list of mobile applications that have been blocked for access in our country:
AliSuppliers Mobile App
Alibaba Workbench
AliExpress – Smarter Shopping, Better Living
Alipay Cashier
Lalamove India – Delivery App
Drive with Lalamove India
Snack Video
CamCard – Business Card Reader
CamCard – BCR (Western)
Soul- Follow the soul to find you
Chinese Social – Free Online Dating Video App & Chat
Date in Asia – Dating & Chat For Asian Singles
WeDate-Dating App
Free dating app-Singol, start your date!
Adore App
TrulyChinese – Chinese Dating App
TrulyAsian – Asian Dating App
ChinaLove: dating app for Chinese singles
DateMyAge: Chat, Meet, Date Mature Singles Online
AsianDate: find Asian singles
FlirtWish: chat with singles
Guys Only Dating: Gay Chat
Tubit: Live Streams
WeWorkChina
First Love Live- super hot live beauties live online
Rela – Lesbian Social Network
Cashier Wallet
MangoTV
MGTV-HunanTV official TV APP
WeTV – TV version
WeTV – Cdrama, Kdrama&More
WeTV Lite
Lucky Live-Live Video Streaming App
Taobao Live
DingTalk
Identity V
Isoland 2: Ashes of Time
BoxStar (Early Access)
Heroes Evolved
Happy Fish
Jellipop Match-Decorate your dream island！
Munchkin Match: magic home building
Conquista Online II
In a statement, Dr Ajay Data, Founder and CEO, VideoMeet Pvt Ltd. parent company for VideoMeet App added that the 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 also welcomed the decision by saying: “an opportune time for Indian tech and IT community, to work towards making India’s IT framework more resilient. This support to homegrown apps will help us in going global. This is also great for the Atmanirbhar Bharat mission of Govt of India.”
Sumit Ghosh, CEO and co-founder of Chingari termed: “very smart move and sends out a clear message that Chinese apps can’t use such tactics to engage in activities that are prejudicial to India’s sovereignty”.
Aditya Narang, Co-founder & MD of cyber security firm SafeHouse Technologies added: “It takes several security-sensitive and intrusive permissions which the user doesn’t understand but ends up agreeing to. As the threat to secure user data is increasing, users must make sure their mobile phones are protected, secured and encrypted.”
Varun Saxena, Founder and CEO of Bolo Indya said: “yet another welcome move from the government to stand against Chinese apps that always have had serious privacy issues”.