Chinese apps banned in India: Know apps status, alternative apps, and more

India has banned 59 apps of China origin, including some popular names such as TikTok, CamScanner, Shareit, Mobile Legends, UC Browser, Mi Community, Mi Video Call and Weibo. The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) on Monday invoked its power under section 69A of the Information Technology Act to put a ban on these apps and termed their usage ‘prejudicial to sovereignty and integrity of India, defence of India, security of state and public order’.

Currently, some of the apps listed under the ban are available on Google’s Play Store and Apple’s App Store for download. Moreover, these apps are still functional and do not seem to have been taken down from any other app distribution platforms. It is about time and the apps would be taken down from distribution platforms to curtail new downloads. However, there are ways to side load the applications on smartphones, at least on Google Android platform.

Thus, even if the banned apps are taken down from Google’s Play Store, there will be an alternative route to get these apps for free. Also, the apps would continue to function on smartphones unless their access to server is not blacklisted by internet service providers. Therefore, there are chances that the government would ask internet service providers to block IP addresses and access to these apps.

In the list of banned apps, there are some that do no require internet access to work. Moreover, there are apps that come pre-loaded on some smartphones. It is still to be seen how the government plans to impose ban on the use of such apps.

59 Chinese apps banned in India and their alternatives:

Posted By : Parthasarathi Swain

Source : Business Standard