59 Chinese Apps Banned In India As A Threat To National Security Of The Country

The Indian government on Monday banned 59 mobile apps, including China's TikTok, ShareIt, and WeChat, terming them prejudicial to sovereignty, integrity, and national security of the country. 

In an official statement, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) said it has received many complaints from various sources, including several reports about the 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 compilation of these data, its mining, and profiling by elements hostile to national security and defence of India, which ultimately impinges upon the sovereignty and integrity of India, is a matter of very deep and immediate concern which requires emergency measures," the statement said. 

The Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre, Ministry of Home Affairs, has also sent an exhaustive recommendation for blocking these malicious apps. "On the basis of these, and upon receiving of recent credible inputs that such Apps pose threat to sovereignty and integrity of India, the Government of India has decided to disallow the usage of certain Apps, used in both mobile and non-mobile Internet-enabled devices," it said. 

The statement added that this move will "safeguard the interests of crores of Indian mobile and internet users. This decision is a targeted move to ensure the safety and sovereignty of Indian cyberspace." 

The Confederation of All India Traders ( CAIT) also complimented Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Government of India for such a massive step of banning 59 Chinese applications, which will be a big support to CAIT’s Boycott Chinese Goods campaign.

"This huge unprecedented step will go a long way in strengthening the Boycott China campaign of CAIT. Boycott China movement is now, well and truly a national reality, and seven crore traders of India stands in solidarity with the Union Government" said CAIT Secretary General Praveen Khandelwal.

(PTI)