Govt. To Impose Ban On 54 Chinese Apps

Sources called it a "Security threat"

The Indian Government is likely to issue an order imposing a ban on 54 Chinese apps, As Per the sources it says that these applications will pose a big threat to the country’s security, highly placed sources said on Monday.

According to news agency ANI, which cited sources, the government believes that these 54 Chinese apps pose a ''threat to the privacy and security of Indians.''

According to ministry sources, the list of 54 apps includes some of those that had been banned by the Indian government earlier too but had rebranded themselves and relaunched under new names.

Upon official confirmation and after establishing the country of origin, orders have once again been issued to ban the apps.

Further, the Ministry sources stated, several of these apps have been known to either run malicious software or directly send user information to China-based data centers without user consent. 

According to the source, The 54 Chinese apps include Beauty Camera: Sweet Selfie HD, Beauty Camera - Selfie Camera, Equalizer & Bass Booster, CamCard for SalesForce Ent, Isoland 2: Ashes of Time Lite, Viva Video Editor, Tencent Xriver, Onmyoji Chess, Onmyoji Arena, AppLock, Dual Space Lite.

Most of these apps belong to major Chinese technology firms such as Tencent, Alibaba, and gaming firm NetEase. All of these Chinese technology firms have either “rebranded or rechristened” those apps that were banned by the Centre in 2020. 

The centre banned 224 Chinese apps starting with about 59 apps in the first round, including popular applications like TikTok, Shareit, WeChat, Helo, Likee, UC News, Bigo Live, UC Browser, ES File Explorer, and Mi Community.