59 Chinese apps banned | Here's why PUBG Mobile and Zoom are not banned in India

The Government of India recently imposed a ban on 59 Chinese apps in India. Among the several questions that have been flooding the internet since the ban, the biggest doubt on everyone's mind is, why has PUBG not been banned due to its ties with Chinese-based Tencent Games.

To put it simply, PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds or PUBG is not a Chinese game. The multiplayer battle royale video game is developed and published by the PUBG Corporation, a subsidiary of South Korean video game company Bluehole. Tencent Games is the publishing partner for PUBG Mobile in China.

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However, the game is also distributed in India by Tencent Holdings. While you cannot dismiss the game's Chinese links, its mixed-ownership could have played a role in the government's decision to omit PUBG Mobile from its list of banned apps, although users on social media are still calling out for a PUBG ban.

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Zoom is another such app with links that can be traced back to China. The video conferencing platform has a large workforce in China and has faced scrutiny due to its past security lapses. The company rose to prominence during the coronavirus pandemic and is fast becoming the biggest video conferencing app in the world. However, Zoom Communications, Inc is an American company, headquartered in San Jose, California.

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