India bans more Chinese Apps after banning 59, and 47 Chinese Apps earlier
The Ministry of Information and Technology banned more Chinese apps including popular PUBG Mobile in the country on September 05, 2020. This time the government has banned 118 China-based apps. The apps are still available on Google Play store and Apple App store. PUBG Mobile has millions of downloads and active users in the country and this makes for a big loss of Tencent, the parent company. The Indian government has also banned the PUBG Mobile Lite app available on Google Play store. Meanwhile, the desktop version of the game, PUBG is still available in the country. PUBG Mobile is yet to issue a comment on the matter.
The IT Ministry stated in an official press release that the Chinese apps have been “banned under the section 69A of the Information Technology Act read with the relevant provisions of the Information Technology Rules 2009 and in view of the emergent nature of threats has decided to block 118 mobile 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 the state and public order.”
Earlier, the Information and Technology Ministry banned (on July 24) 47 apps, which are clones or variants of Chinese-linked 59 apps earlier banned in June. Reasoning out the ban the ministry reportedly said that the problem is with the operational ethics of certain apps. This is an ongoing process. If apps qualify under the same grounds of operational ethics, then they will also come under the scanner. The “operational ethics” refers to data going back to the Chinese government.
Citing the “emergent nature of threats” from mobile applications, including popular ones of Chinese origin such as TikTok, ShareIt, UCBrowser, Club Factory and CamScanner, the Centre had banned 59 apps on June 29 based on information that they were engaged in activities “prejudicial to sovereignty and integrity”, defence, security and public order.
Among the apps banned under Section 69A of the Information Technology Act are some of the most downloaded in the country, with Indians making up the largest chunk of many user bases. The move was seen as a retaliatory step amid the tense border standoff between India and China that led to 20 Indian Army personnel being killed on June 15. State-owned telecom companies also moved to keep Chinese vendors out of their network upgradation tenders.
“The Ministry of Information Technology has 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 unauthorised manner to servers which have locations outside India,” the government had said in a statement on June 29. “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.”
“On the basis of these and upon receiving of recent credible inputs that such Apps pose threat to sovereignty and integrity of India, the Government…has decided to disallow the usage of certain Apps, used in both mobile and non-mobile Internet enabled devices,” it said.
The firms were asked to clarify their data-sharing norms under a Chinese law that requires companies of Chinese origin to share data with that country’s intelligence agencies, irrespective of where they operate. Additionally, the government is expected to ask companies without a presence in India to appoint a local grievance officer.
ByteDance tells US it won’t sell TikTok’s algorithm: Report
According to a South China Morning Post report, TikTok’s parent ByteDance has decided it won’t sell or transfer the algorithm behind the video-sharing app in any sale or divestment. TikTok’s parent ByteDance has decided it won’t sell or transfer the algorithm behind the video-sharing app in any sale or divestment. The company will not hand out the source code behind the social media platform but the company’s US based technology team would be free to develop a new algorithm, the newspaper said, adding that this would be a condition for a sale of the company’s US assets. Any TikTok deal would probably require negotiations between the US government and its Chinese counterpart to succeed.
Here’s the list of all 118 Chinese apps that have been banned in the country.
1. APUS Launcher Pro- Theme, Live Wallpapers, Smart 2. APUS Launcher -Theme, Call Show, Wallpaper, HideApps 3. APUS Security -Antivirus, Phone security, Cleaner 4. APUS Turbo Cleaner 2020- Junk Cleaner, Anti-Virus 5. APUS Flashlight-Free & Bright 6. Cut Cut – Cut Out & Photo Background Editor 7. Baidu 8. Baidu Express Edition 9. FaceU – Inspire your Beauty 10. ShareSave by Xiaomi: Latest gadgets, amazing deals 11. CamCard – Business Card Reader 12. CamCard Business 13. CamCard for Salesforce 14. CamOCR 15. InNote 16. VooV Meeting – Tencent Video Conferencing 17. Super Clean – Master of Cleaner, Phone Booster 18. WeChat reading 19. Government WeChat 20. Small Q brush 21. Tencent Weiyun 22. Pitu 23. WeChat Work 24. Cyber Hunter 25. Cyber Hunter Lite 26. Knives Out-No rules, just fight! 27. Super Mecha Champions 28. LifeAfter 29. Dawn of Isles 30. Ludo World-Ludo Superstar 31. Chess Rush 32. PUBG MOBILE Nordic Map: Livik 33. PUBG MOBILE LITE 34. Rise of Kingdoms: Lost Crusade 35. Art of Conquest: Dark Horizon 36. Dank Tanks 37. Warpath 38. Game of Sultans 39. Gallery Vault – Hide Pictures And Videos 40. Smart AppLock (App Protect) 41. Message Lock (SMS Lock)-Gallery Vault Developer Team 42. Hide App-Hide Application Icon 43. AppLock 44. AppLock Lite 45. Dual Space – Multiple Accounts & App Cloner 46. ZAKZAK Pro – Live chat & video chat online 47. ZAKZAK LIVE: live-streaming & video chat app 48. Music – Mp3 Player 49. Music Player – Audio Player & 10 Bands Equalizer 50. HD Camera Selfie Beauty Camera 51. Cleaner – Phone Booster 52. Web Browser & Fast Explorer 53. Video Player All Format for Android 54. Photo Gallery HD & Editor 55. Photo Gallery & Album 56. Music Player – Bass Booster – Free Download 57. HD Camera – Beauty Cam with Filters & Panorama 58. HD Camera Pro & Selfie Camera 59. Music Player – MP3 Player & 10 Bands Equalizer 60. Gallery HD | 161. Web Browser – Fast, Privacy & Light Web Explorer 62. Web Browser – Secure Explorer 63. Music player – Audio Player 64. Video Player – All Format HD Video Player 65. Lamour Love All Over The World 66. Amour- video chat & call all over the world. 67. MV Master – Make Your Status Video & Community 68. MV Master – Best Video Maker & Photo Video Editor 69. APUS Message Center-Intelligent management 70. LivU Meet new people & Video chat with strangers 71. Carrom Friends : Carrom Board & Pool Game- 72. Ludo All Star- Play Online Ludo Game & Board Games 73. Bike Racing : Moto Traffic Rider Bike Racing Games 74. Rangers Of Oblivion : Online Action MMO RPG Game 75. Z Camera – Photo Editor, Beauty Selfie, Collage 76. GO SMS Pro – Messenger, Free Themes, Emoji 77. U-Dictionary: Oxford Dictionary Free Now Translate 78. Ulike – Define your selfie in trendy style 79. Tantan – Date For Real 80. MICO Chat: New Friends Banaen aur Live Chat karen 81. Kitty Live – Live Streaming & Video Live Chat 82. Malay Social Dating App to Date & Meet Singles 83. Alipay 84. AlipayHK 85. Mobile Taobao 86. Youku 87. Road of Kings- Endless Glory 88. Sina News 89. Netease News 90. Penguin FM 91. Murderous Pursuits 92. Tencent Watchlist (Tencent Technology 93. Learn Chinese AI-Super Chinese 94. HUYA LIVE – Game Live Stream 95. Little Q Album 96. Fighting Landlords – Free and happy Fighting Landlords 97. Hi Meitu 98. Mobile Legends: Pocket 99. VPN for TikTok 100. VPN for TikTok 101. Penguin E-sports Live assistant 102. Buy Cars-offer everything you need, special offers and low prices 103. iPick 104. Beauty Camera Plus – Sweet Camera & Face Selfie 105. Parallel Space Lite – Dual App 106. “Chief Almighty: First Thunder BC 107. MARVEL Super War NetEase Games 108. AFK Arena 109. Creative Destruction NetEase Games 110. Crusaders of Light NetEase Games 111. Mafia City Yotta Games 112. Onmyoji NetEase Games 113. Ride Out Heroes NetEase Games 114. Yimeng Jianghu-Chu Liuxiang has been fully upgraded 115. Legend: Rising Empire NetEase Games 116. Arena of Valor: 5v5 Arena Games 117. Soul Hunters 118. Rules of Survival
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