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In a statement on Wednesday, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology said it decided to ban these applications “in view of the information available, they are involved in activities that are detrimental to the sovereignty and integrity of India, the defense of India, the security of the state and the public “. order”.
“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, ”added the authority.
India bans 59 Chinese apps, including TikTok and WeChat
The latest move comes after India banned 59 Chinese apps, including ByteDance’s TikTok and Tencent’s WeChat in June, following a deadly standoff on the Himalayan border between China and India. This week, Bloomberg reported that thousands of Indian soldiers captured high ground near the country’s disputed border with China in a stealth night operation, India’s first offensive move since the conflict began in May.
“[The ban is] good view from India’s perspective because there was increasing tension on the border over the weekend, which is presumably what prompted the ban on this app, ”said Dev Lewis, a member of the Digital Asia Hub think tank based in Hong Kong. “It is an economic retaliation for the border situation.”
On Thursday, China’s Ministry of Commerce criticized India’s latest move, saying Beijing is “very concerned and strongly opposes” the ban.
“Abusing the notion of national security, India has adopted discriminatory and restrictive measures against Chinese companies. This is a violation of the related rules of the WTO (World Trade Organization), ”the ministry said. “China urges India to rectify its wrongful conduct. Business cooperation between China and India is a win-win scenario for both. “
Liuqing Yu, a country analyst at The Economist Intelligence Unit research group in Singapore, said India’s latest app ban effectively indicates that all Chinese apps should not be used in India.
“This is a strong sign that all Chinese applications are not welcome,” Yu said. Banning apps like Alipay and Tantan, which are not actually available in India, is a strong indication that the motivation for the ban goes beyond market concerns, she added.
PUBG Mobile ban annoys Indian gamers and streamers
As well as banning new apps, the latest move also appears to plug the holes left by the previous app ban. While the main WeChat app was banned in the previous round, the new list includes its other variants, including WeChat Work and Government WeChat. Furthermore, the Virtual Private Networks (VPN) that are used to access TikTok are also listed, which will make it difficult for the remaining TikTok users in India to access the application through workarounds.
Analysts agreed that the motivations for the ban appeared to go beyond the national security and data privacy concerns cited by New Delhi.
“The government is using a section of the Information Technology Act in India, a kind of national security clause, which gives them some discretionary power to block these applications,” Lewis said. “But in reality, India does not have data protection or data privacy laws in practice. So these apps are not committing specific violations, for example to store data in India or not. “
Daniel Ahmad, a senior analyst at gaming consultancy Niko Partners, noted that some apps were banned despite efforts to address previous concerns about data security.
Vey-Sern Ling, a senior analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence, said economic concerns could be a factor. “This round of bans has been expanded to include online gaming apps, which have higher monetization than the social media apps banned in previous rounds,” she said. “The argument that game apps are ‘detrimental to sovereignty’ may seem more extensive than when applied to social media apps.”
China doubles claims Indian troops ‘violated’ border consensus
Yu said the new app ban is likely to provoke further action by the Chinese government, which has “limited itself to retaliating.”
“There is an increasingly real opportunity that the Chinese authority will be forced to react, probably starting with imposing more tariff or non-tariff barriers on exports,” Yu said. “Targeting exports from India will not put an additional burden on Chinese companies.”
The bans may also halt the expansion of Chinese tech companies in India and force Chinese tech investors to phase out their investments in the Indian startup market, Yu added.“data-reactid =” 41 “>The bans may also halt the expansion of Chinese tech companies in India and force Chinese tech investors to phase out their investments in the Indian startup market, Yu added.
“It will be very difficult for Chinese ISPs to continue expanding in India at the current rate,” he said. “For those who have already invested in Indian startups, I think they will think twice before expanding their presence and will probably try to phase them out.”
This Article India’s Ban of 118 Apps Including PUBG Mobile, Alipay Is ‘Economic Retaliation’ For Border Tensions – Analysts First Appeared On South China Morning Post
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