Modi Govt bars 47 clones of banned Chinese apps

The Information and Technology Ministry here banned 47 apps, which are clones or variants of Chinese-linked 59 apps earlier banned in June.

A month since the last ban, sources in the Ministry tells that “the problem is with the operational ethics of certain apps. This is an ongoing process. If apps qualify under the same grounds of operational ethics, then they will also come under the scanner.” The source said “operational ethics” refers to data going back to the Chinese government.

Citing the “emergent nature of threats” from mobile applications, including popular ones of Chinese origin such as TikTok, UC Browser, Helo, ShareIt, Club Factory and CamScanner, WeChat, Mi Community etc the Centre had banned 59 apps on June 29 based on information that they were engaged in activities “prejudicial to sovereignty and integrity”, defence, security and public order.

Among the apps banned under Section 69A of the Information Technology Act are some of the most downloaded in the country, with Indians making up the largest chunk of many user bases.

It is to mention here that the move was seen as a retaliatory step amid the tense border standoff between India and China that led to 20 Indian Army personnel being killed on June 15. State-owned telecom companies also moved to keep Chinese vendors out of their network upgradation tenders.

“The Ministry of Information Technology has received many complaints from various sources, including several reports about misuse of some mobile apps available on Android and iOS platforms for stealing and surreptitiously transmitting users’ data in an unauthorised manner to servers which have locations outside India,” the government had said in a statement on June 29.

The government is expected to ask companies without a presence in India to appoint a local grievance officer.