Following a recent ban on Chinese apps in India, the popular names such as Weibo and Baidu have now been blocked in India. Both Weibo and Baidu are popular Chinese apps considered as alternatives to micro-blogging site Twitter and Google Search, respectively. Read on to know more about this.
Weibo, Baidu blocked in India
Both Weibo and Baidu no longer exist on the Google Play Store and the App Store, as per the request made to both Google and Apple. The Internet Service Providers (ISPs) have also been asked to block the apps so that users are unable to access the apps or their website versions.
As per a report by the Times of India (TOI), Weibo and Baidu are counted in the list of the 47 apps banned recently in India. An unknown official told TOI, "They are among the 47 new apps that the government had banned." Although, Weibo was among the 59 Chinese apps that were banned in the country.
It is suggested that more Chinese apps will soon be banned in India as part of another 'digital strike' by India. For those who don't know, around 275 apps are being reviewed by the government, with the list including the most popular battle royale game PUBG Mobile.
For those who don't know, Weibo is a micro-blogging site launched back in 2009. It is a popular Twitter alternative in China and was even joined by the PM Narendra Modi in 2015. However, due to the recent India-China tensions, Modi removed his account from the website. Baidu, on the other hand, is a Chinese web browser that has its Facemoji Keyboard app as a known one in India.
To refresh your memory, the Indian Government banned 59 Chinese apps on June 29 (including TikTok, UC Browser, Beauty Plus, ShareIt, CamScanner, and more) due to security and privacy issues. Following this, it went on and banned 47 apps on July 27, which were clones to the previously-banned apps, citing the same problem. However, a full list of the 47 apps isn't available and it is suggested it includes apps such as TikTok Lite, Likee Lite, Bigo Live Lite, Shareit Lite, and CamScanner HD among others.
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