India Bans 59 Chinese apps to safeguard and protect the interest of people of our nation.

The IT ministry is banning these apps under Section 69A of the Information Technology Act read with other relevant provisions of the  Information Technology (Procedure and Safeguards for Blocking of Access of Information by Public) Rules, 2009.

The Narendra Modi government on Monday night announced a ban on 59 Chinese apps, including popular ones such as TikTok and UC Browser, in a move that it claimed was necessary to “safeguard the interests of crores of Indian mobile and internet users”.

“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,” a government press release said.

“On the basis of these and upon receiving recent credible inputs that such apps pose threat to sovereignty and integrity of India, the Government of India has decided to disallow the usage of certain Apps, used in both mobile and non-mobile Internet enabled devices… This decision is a targeted move to ensure safety and sovereignty of Indian cyberspace,” it read.

According to the official order, the IT ministry is banning these apps under Section 69A of the Information Technology Act read with other relevant provisions of the  Information Technology (Procedure and Safeguards for Blocking of Access of Information by Public) Rules, 2009.

Some of the banned apps include TikTok, UC Browser, WeChat, Weibo, SHAREit and Clash of Kings. While many of the listed apps are not that popular, the most crucial ban is that on social media and video-sharing app TikTok — which over the last two years has taken India by storm, picking up millions of users and spawning a new creative entertainment industry. 

The government press release indicated that the IT ministry had “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 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 press release said.