India on Wednesday banned 118 mobile apps linked to China, including the popular game PUBG Mobile Lite, and said there were reports that these apps were “stealing and surreptitiously transmitting user data in an unauthorized manner.” The government said that these apps promoted activities “detrimental to the sovereignty and integrity of India, the defense of India, state security and public order.”
“This measure will safeguard the interests of millions of Internet and mobile users in India. This decision is a specific move to ensure the security, protection and sovereignty of Indian cyberspace, ”said the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MEITY) on Wednesday afternoon, announcing the ban that could harm some of China’s tech giants such as Tencent Holdings Ltd. the country’s search engine leader Baidu Inc, Xiaomi’s ShareSave, and online payments giant Ant Group Co.’s Alipay platform.
India accounts for more than a quarter of PUBG Mobile’s lifetime installs, though the country’s revenue remains miniscule, according to a Bloomberg report citing data from research firm Sensor Tower. PlayerUnknown’s BattleGrounds, popularly known as PUBG, had seen its user count skyrocket in India as crashes related to the coronavirus increased games. The banned versions of PUBG included PUBG Mobile Lite, a slimmer version of the app suitable for budget smartphones, as well as PUBG Mobile Nordic Map: Livik, a newer game played on Nordic terrain.
Also read: IT ministry bans 118 more apps including PUBG, AppLock – here is the full list
PUBG was developed by a South Korean company, but the mobile version that has taken off around the world was developed by Chinese tech giant Tencent, the AFP news agency said.
Officials said there were reports from parents, civil society activists and other stakeholders about PUBG’s ‘violent’ content. “The applications have been banned to ensure that there is no data theft,” the official said. The official added that the Indian alternative to PUBG, Scarfall, may now gain more traction.
This is the third round of bans after India decided to remove Tik Tok and 59 other apps on June 29. The second round of crashes occurred on July 23, when the ministry decided to remove mirror apps that worked despite the ban. These applications were also banned as a “threat to the sovereignty of the country and national security.” IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad called the order a “digital attack on China.”
Wednesday’s new order comes in the wake of border tensions with China in the sensitive Ladakh sector after the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) made a failed attempt to seize Indian territory in a stealth move midnight on Aug. 29, officials familiar with the events said on Tuesday. The Indian army, however, took over the PLA and occupied key points on the southern bank of Pangong Tso.
The PLA made a second provocative move on August 31, but the Indian military took “timely defensive measures” to thwart the Chinese attempt to unilaterally alter the status quo in the sector, the Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday.
The third round of ban on mobile apps tied to China was ordered in this context and is widely seen as an effort by New Delhi to send a message to Beijing that its aggressive stance along the Royal Line of Control would have costs in other places. India’s ban on TikTok had prompted several other countries to scrutinize the company previously and led to US President Donald Trump’s decision to ban the mobile app from transacting in the US starting in mid-September. .
However, the TI ministry did not allude to the border situation. Instead, he cited a report from India’s Cybercrime Coordination Center located within the Home Office that had issued a comprehensive recommendation “to block these malicious applications.”
A MEITY official, who did not want to be named, said the ban had been affected by the ’emergency provisions of the TI Act.
The ministry invoked its power under article 69A of the Information Technology Law, read with the relevant provisions of the Information Technology Regulation (Procedure and Safeguards for Blocking Access to Information by the Public) of 2009 and, in view of the emerging nature of the threats, it has decided to block 118 mobile apps’ as, in view of the available information, they are engaged in activities that are detrimental to the sovereignty and integrity of India, the defense of India , state security and public order, ‘the public statement said.
“We received a report of the violations yesterday and immediately ordered the blocking of the applications,” he said, explaining that notices are being sent to mobile applications to counter the decision.
The same process was followed for the previous round of bans. “They will be given the opportunity to present a representation on their behalf,” he added.
“The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology has received many complaints from various sources, including several reports about the misuse of some mobile applications available on the Android and iOS platforms to steal and surreptitiously transmit user data in an unauthorized manner to servers that have locations outside of India, ”the ministry said in a statement.
“The collection of this data, its extraction and profiling by elements hostile to the national security and defense of India, which ultimately affects the sovereignty and integrity of India, is a matter of very deep and immediate concern. that requires emergency measures “, the ministry. said.
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