India bans 59 Chinese apps, including TikTok, UC Browser, Weibo, and WeChat
The Indian government has banned today 59 Chinese mobile applications on the grounds of national security, according to a government mandate seen by ZDNet.
The ban comes after the Indian military clashed with Chinese forces in the region of Ladakh, in northern India, on June 15, this year. The clashes resulted in at least 20 Indian soldier deaths, and more than 75 injured.
The New Delhi government argues that the 59 apps have been used to collect data on Indian users, data that has been sent back to servers in China.
Indian officials said they believe the data has been mined and used to profile Indian users by "elements hostile to [the] national security and defence of India."
The Indian Ministry of Information Technology, who authorized the ban today, said it received an "exhaustive recommendation" to ban the 59 Chinese apps from the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre at the Ministry of Home Affairs.
Furthermore, the ministry also said India's Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-IN) has also received complaints from users about the privacy and security of the banned apps.
It is currently unclear how the Indian government will proceed with the ban at a technical level. The apps are still available on app stores, and they are still working inside the country, at the time of writing. It is unclear if the New Delhi government will ask app stores to remove the apps from their locale Indian stores, or if the government will use local ISPs to block the app's domains.
National-level app bans are usually incredibly hard to enforce. Russia has recently "formally" unbanned the Telegram app after a two-year ban, albeit, the app has never stopped working inside the country, with the Telegram team always finding new ways to bypass the Kremlin's ISP-level ban.
The full list of Chinese apps the Indian government banned today is below and includes:
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 Browers
14. Virus Cleaner
15. APUS Browser
16. ROMWE
17. Club Factory
18. Newsdog
19. Beutry 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