India imposes new ban on China, and blocks versions created as replacements for major apps it banned .
Amid tension on the Indo-Chinese border, the Indian government had banned 59 Chinese apps, including TikTok, stating that they were detrimental to sovereignty, security and integrity .
However, Chinese companies resorted to “Lite” versions of apps and found a way to bypass the ban in India. But that seems to be coming to an end, as the government has decided to ban additional apps and they have already been removed from the official Apple and Google.
The Hindustan Times reported that the apps detected by officials were Helo Lite, ShareIt Lite, Bigo Lite and VFY Lite. The lite apps were found to be promoted as alternatives to the main versions, both on the Google Play Store and the Apple App Store.
People familiar with the matter say that the Indian Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology has written a letter to the concerned members regarding this action, foreshadowing the new ban from India. According to the information, the IT Ministry has warned them saying that “finding an alternative solution and enabling the applications on the respective platforms will attract criminal action as it violates the provisions of the Information Technology and other relevant laws.”
This comes after the Minister of Electronics and Information Technology, speaking at the virtual meeting of Digital Economy Ministers on Wednesday, said that “digital platforms should be accountable for the overarching concerns, such as defense, privacy and security of the countries in which they operate.”
He added that in addition to the ban, India will soon pass a Personal Data Protection Act to address all privacy- related concerns while also making the data available for further development.
In case you're on an internet detox or living under a rock, the Indian government had banned apps from China-based companies, such as TikTok, ShareIt, Helo, Like, UC Browser, and 53 other apps, in India some time ago.
Citing provisions of the 69A IT Act, India on June 29 declared the apps a threat to the country's security, and stressed that the ban was not an overnight move, as it had repeatedly received numerous complaints about data misuse on servers located far outside the country.
