The Indian government has banned TikTok along with close to 60 other apps developed by Chinese firms, saying they were engaging in activities that put India’s security at risk.
As TechCrunch reported, the Indian government announced the bans on Monday evening, saying that the apps engaged in activities that endangered the “national security and defence of India, which ultimately impinges upon the sovereignty and integrity of India.” The move was seen as part of growing tensions between the neighboring countries, especially after several clashes at the border left many Indian soldiers dead.
Sudhir Chaudhary, Indian television news host and editor-in-chief of Zee News, wrote that the ban on Chinese apps was seen as a “digital air strike” against China.
BIG BREAKING: 1st Big retaliation by Govt of India ?? against China.Our forces will fight them on ground meanwhile India does the ‘Digital Air Strike’ on China. India bans 59 Chinese apps including TikTok.
— Sudhir Chaudhary (@sudhirchaudhary) June 29, 2020
As TechCrunch reported, TikTok and many of the other apps struck down in the ban have a huge audience in India. The country is the biggest market for ByteDance’s TikTok, Club Factory is the third-largest e-commerce firm in India, and Community and Video Call apps from Xiaomi are among the most-used smartphone applications. The apps together had more than 500 million monthly active users in May, and the bans were expected to affect close to one-third of all Indian smartphone users, the report added.
Many took to social media in the wake of the announcement, with some showing support for the measure and others questioning how it would affect apps they are using for business and personal use.
Government bans 59 mobile apps ? including #TikTok , likee, UC Browser, etc.
This decision is a targeted move to ensure safety and sovereignty of Indian cyberspace & to safeguard interests of crores of Indian mobile/internet users
?Here’s the list? https://t.co/aKgmnAglOs pic.twitter.com/ooTUWj6R5E
— PIB India (@PIB_India) June 29, 2020
Tensions between China and India have been sharply rising since deadly clashes that took place at the border in recent weeks. As The Inquisitr reported, intelligence collected by United States sources found that the Chinese government ordered a strike in order to “teach India a lesson.”
India’s government has responded by instituting a number of economic measures against China, which is expected to push India toward a closer relationship with the United States and other nations that are in opposition to China.
“India will try to align closer to the U.S. and others also wanting to check China,” Manoj Joshi, a distinguished fellow with the New Delhi-based think tank Observer Research Foundation, told The Wall Street Journal .
“India will step up diplomatic efforts with like-minded countries like the U.S., U.K., Australia and Japan.”
It remained unclear just how the Indian government expected to carry out the ban on TikTok and other Chinese-based apps, including whether internet service providers were be expected to comply with the order.
