The Ministry of Information Technology, on June 29, banned 59 mobile apps, saying they are engaged in activities which are "prejudicial to the sovereignty and integrity of India, defence of India, security of state and public order.
The list of apps included TikTok, Weibo and others (full list below).
The IT Ministry said that it has received many complaints from various sources including several reports about misuse of some mobile apps available on Android and iOS platforms for stealing and surreptitiously transmitting users’ data in an unauthorized manner to servers which have locations outside India.
"The compilation of these data, its mining and profiling by elements hostile to national security and defence of India, which ultimately impinges upon the sovereignty and integrity of India, is a matter of very deep and immediate concern which requires emergency measures," the ministry further said in a statement.
The Confederation of All India Traders ( CAIT) welcomed the move saying, "This huge unprecedented step will go a long way in strengthening the 'Boycott China' campaign of CAIT."
Among the apps, TikTok, Club Factory, Xiaomi, Cam Scanner, UC Browser are expected to be the worst-hit because of high user volume.
Read Also | Chinese apps, including TikTok, banned: These are the most popular on Google Play Store
Sreedhar Prasad, independent e-commerce analyst, told Moneycontrol, "Most of these apps have huge adoption and usage across India. This is a massive move considering the globalised nature of today's digital world."
"However, we need to note that China was ahead of every country in setting their internal ground rules by banning many international social media apps, thereby ring fencing their digital ecosystem. India could be having the largest user base outside China for many of these apps and, if some of the other countries follow suit, this could lead to a very strong move of rejection across the world. This is a great opportunity for local alternatives across the world to grab these customers as the usage habit has been created by these Chinese apps – TikTok and ShareIt being classic examples," Prasad added.
Here is a list of apps that have been banned by the Centre:
1. TikTok
2. Shareit
3. Kwai
4. UC Browser
5. Baidu map
6. Shein
7.Clash of Kings
8. DU battery saver
9. Helo
10. Likee
11. YouCam makeup
12. Mi Community
13. CM Browser
14. Virus Cleaner
15. APUS Browser
16. ROMWE
17. Club Factory
18. Newsdog
19. Beauty Plus
20. WeChat
21. UC News
22. QQ Mail
23. Weibo
24. Xender
25. QQ Music
26. QQ Newsfeed
27. Bigo Live
28. SelfieCity
29. Mail Master
30. Parallel Space
31. Mi Video Call – Xiaomi
32. WeSync
33. ES File Explorer
34. Viva Video – QU Video Inc
35. Meitu
36. Vigo Video
37. New Video Status
38. DU Recorder
39. Vault- Hide
40. Cache Cleaner DU App studio
41. DU Cleaner
42. DU Browser
43. Hago Play With New Friends
44. Cam Scanner
45. Clean Master – Cheetah Mobile
46. Wonder Camera
47. Photo Wonder
48. QQ Player
49. We Meet
50. Sweet Selfie
51. Baidu Translate
52. Vmate
53. QQ International
54. QQ Security Center
55. QQ Launcher
56. U Video
57. V fly Status Video
58. Mobile Legends
59. DU Privacy
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