India has banned TikTok, and 59 other Chinese apps as tensions escalate between the two countries. A statement from the Country’s Minister of Electronics and Information Technology says that the apps “engaged in activities which [are] prejudicial to sovereignty and integrity of India, defense of India, the security of the state and public order.”
India says that the government has received many complaints about the misuse of some mobile apps on Android and iOS platforms. The claims allege stealing and surreptitiously transmitting users’ data to servers outside the Country.
The statement says that the move is essential to protect the data security and privacy of Indians, following reports of unauthorized data transmission.
“The compilation of these data, its mining and profiling to elements hostile to national security and defense of India is a matter of very deep and immediate concern which requires emergency measures.”
India Today Journalist Shiv Aroor has confirmed that TikTok is no longer on the Country’s iOS and Android Playstore.
File sharing app Xender, and Chinese Super App WeChat are also part of the ban. Other apps in the ban include low segment browser UC browser and mobile applications from the Xiaomi ecosystem.
India Banned TikTok Before
Last year, India banned the video-sharing platform and removed it from the country’s app store, saying that it encouraged pornography among other illicit content. However, the Chinese company argued that only a proportion of its videos were inappropriate, and later took down six million videos that violated community guidelines.
An update from TikTok reveals that the company has been invited to meet with government stakeholders to respond and clarify their position. According to Nikhil Gandhi, Head of TikTok, in India, the company does not share any information of users with any foreign governments.
“TikTok continues to comply with all data privacy and security requirements under the Indian law and has not shared any information about our users in India with any foreign governments, including the Chinese government.”
Nikhil Gandhi, Head of TikTok in India
TikTok’s ban in India will serve a wounding blow on the app. India is the app’s second-largest market after China, with estimates of 120 million monthly users and 300 million users in total. While the current young users will still be able to use the app, the ban will limit their expansion.
However, the move will benefit startups in the country, who believe that this ban will last for longer, leaving room for developing and improving local apps. At the same time, the country’s citizens will not take a significant hit as they rely on American giants like WhatsApp to communicate, as opposed to China’s WeChat.
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