India has banned 47 other Chinese apps just weeks after the country blocked popular video-sharing platforms TikTok and WeChat, as well as 57 others for national security and privacy concerns.
“We have banned 47 Chinese mobile applications in this ongoing exercise that highlights the government’s seriousness about data privacy and security,” an official told the AFP news agency.
A notice sent by WeChat on Saturday to an undetermined number of Indian users said: “In accordance with Indian law, we are unable to offer WeChat at this time.”
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Tensions between India and China have soured significantly after the border clash last month that left 20 Indian soldiers dead and several others wounded.
While India promised to retaliate, the reality is that China is unrivaled in terms of military might and economic power.
However, China’s social media and telecommunications companies have viewed the Indian market as an area of tremendous growth and opportunity. Approximately 50 percent of the 1.3 billion residents of India are online. Banning Chinese apps could deal a significant blow to China’s cyber sector.
In addition to TikTok and WeChat, other popular banned apps include UC Browser, Shareit, and Baidu Map.
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India is not the only country that puts pressure on China.
The United States and Australia have also called for bans over concerns that the Chinese government may access and manipulate user data for dire reasons.
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In early July, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo suggested that Washington could sanction Chinese social media apps amid concerns that the apps could be abused as a tool for mass surveillance, as well as a spokesman for Beijing.
White House adviser Peter Navarro said on Fox News that he expects President Trump to take “crackdown” against Chinese-owned social media applications and that the administration “is just getting started.”
