Info-tech

59 Chinese apps banned: Here’s what will happen to these apps

Hemani Sheth Mumbai | Updated on June 30, 2020 Published on June 30, 2020

The Centre on Monday announced its decision to ban 59 mobile apps with links to China owing to security concerns.

The apps have been banned in India with immediate effect as the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) invoked its power under Section 69A of the Information Technology Act. The decision was because of the emergent nature of threats owing to rising border tensions between India and China. Centre has decided to block 59 apps to safeguard the sovereignty and integrity of India.

How will the ban be implemented?

Netizens are yet to get more details about how the ban will be implemented.

According to a CNBC Awaaz report, MEITY has directed the Department of Telecommunications (DOT) to order telecom service providers and Internet Service Providers to block access to these apps.

These ISPs and TSPs will be ordered to block all data and internet traffic to and from these apps. This will render apps that work online and require data to function useless in India, News18 reported. Most of the apps on the list, including TikTok, UC Browser and Clash of Kings rely on data on the internet to function.

The government has also directed Google and Apple app stores to take down these apps from the store. People will no longer be able to download these apps. For people who already have these apps on their phones, the apps that rely on data will be as good as non-functional as mentioned above.

Furthermore, according to the report, these apps, for existing users will no longer get developer support or security updates for users in India, making them an even bigger security risk.

The execution of the government order has already begun. For instance, TikTok is no longer available on the Google Play Store.

Tiktok in a statement has said that it will comply with all necessary security requirements following the order.

Other popular apps removed due to the threat of cyber-espionage include UC Browser, Shein, Shareit, WeChat and Cam Scanner.

"This move will safeguard the interests of crores of Indian mobile and Internet users. This decision is a targeted move to ensure safety and sovereignty of Indian cyberspace," MeitY had said. 

Published on June 30, 2020
Cyber security
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