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Govt bans 59 Chinese apps including TikTok, UC Browser, Shein, Helo, Likee, WeChat, Shareit

In a major decision, the government on Monday banned at least 59 Chinese apps including TikTok. Many popular apps like Shareit, Helo, Shein, Likee, WeChat, UC Browser also figured among the list of the banned Chinese apps. The decision, aimed at "safeguarding" the interests of crores of Indian mobile and internet users, is a targeted move to ensure the safety and sovereignty of Indian cyberspace, the Ministry of Electronics, and Information Technology said in the official notification.

Edited by: India TV News Desk New Delhi Updated on: June 29, 2020 23:22 IST
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Govt bans 59 Chinese apps including TikTok, UC Browser, Shein, Helo, Likee, WeChat, Shareit

In a major decision, the government on Monday banned at least 59 Chinese apps including TikTok. Many popular apps like Shareit, Helo, Shein, Likee, WeChat, UC Browser also figured among the list of the banned Chinese apps. The decision, aimed at "safeguarding" the interests of crores of Indian mobile and internet users, is a targeted move to ensure the safety and sovereignty of Indian cyberspace, the Ministry of Electronics, and Information Technology said in the official notification. The ban comes in the backdrop of current stand-off along the Line of Actual Control in Ladakh with Chinese troops. In the month of June, at least 20 Indian soldiers were martyred in a fierce clash with the Chinese at Galwan Valley. 

"The Ministry of Information Technology, invoking it’s power under section 69A of the Information Technology Act read with the relevant provisions of the Information Technology (Procedure and Safeguards for Blocking of Access of Information by Public) Rules 2009 and in view of the emergent nature of threats has decided to block 59 apps since in view of the information available they are engaged in activities which is prejudicial to sovereignty and integrity of India, defence of India, security of state and public order," the notification read. 

FULL LIST OF CHINESE APPS BANNED BY GOVT: 

1. TikTok
2. Shareit
3. Kwai
4. UC Browser
5. Baidu map 
6. Shein 
7. Clash of Kings 
8. DU battery saver 
9. Helo 
10. Likee
11. YouCam makeup 
12. Mi Community 
13. CM Browers 
14. Virus Cleaner 
15. APUS Browser 
16. ROMWE 
17. Club Factory 
18. Newsdog 
19. Beutry Plus 
20. WeChat 
21. UC News 
22. QQ Mail 
23. Weibo 
24. Xender 
25. QQ Music 
26. QQ Newsfeed 
27. Bigo Live 
28. SelfieCity 
29. Mail Master 
30. Parallel Space 31. Mi Video Call – Xiaomi 
32. WeSync 
33. ES File Explorer 
34. Viva Video – QU Video Inc 
35. Meitu 
36. Vigo Video 
37. New Video Status 
38. DU Recorder 
39. Vault- Hide 
40. Cache Cleaner DU App studio 
41. DU Cleaner 
42. DU Browser 
43. Hago Play With New Friends 
44. Cam Scanner 
45. Clean Master – Cheetah Mobile 
46. Wonder Camera 
47. Photo Wonder 
48. QQ Player 
49. We Meet 
50. Sweet Selfie 
51. Baidu Translate 
52. Vmate 
53. QQ International 
54. QQ Security Center 
55. QQ Launcher 
56. U Video 
57. V fly Status Video 
58. Mobile Legends 
59. DU Privacy 
 
People have long been demanding a ban on TikTok, which has over 200 million users in India. While Likee and Vigo Video are popular short video creation platforms,  Club Factory and Shein are e-commerce platforms that were looking at expanding their presence to compete with larger rivals like Myntra. WeChat is a Chinese multi-purpose messaging and social media app that rivals WhatsApp. On the other hand, CamScanner is a popular app that allows users to scan images and share them. Shareit app allows users to share files between devices while Helo, a social media platform, is owned by ByteDance, the parent firm of TikTok. Alibaba's UC Browser is a mobile Internet browser that has been available in India since 2009. It claimed to have registered 1.1 billion user downloads worldwide (excluding China) in September 2019, with half of its global installs from India. It also claimed to have 130 million monthly active users in the country at that time, news agency PTI reported.
 
In the notification, the ministry said it received many complaints from various sources including several reports about misuse of some mobile apps available on Android and iOS platforms for stealing and surreptitiously transmitting users’ data in an unauthorized manner to servers which have locations outside India. "The compilation of these data, its mining and profiling by elements hostile to national security and defence 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," the ministry informed.
 
It said that the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre, Ministry of Home Affairs has also sent an exhaustive recommendation for blocking these malicious apps. This Ministry has also received many representations raising concerns from citizens regarding the security of data and risk to privacy relating to the operation of certain apps, it said. "The Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-IN) has also received many representations from citizens regarding the security of data and breach of privacy impacting upon public order issues. Likewise, there have been similar bipartisan concerns, flagged by various public representatives, both outside and inside the Parliament of India. There has been a strong chorus in the public space to take strict action against Apps that harm India’s sovereignty as well as the privacy of our citizens," the ministry expressed concern. 
 
 
 
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