54 more Chinese apps to be banned in India: MHA

New Delhi, February 14

The Ministry of Home Affairs has recommended a ban on 54 more Chinese mobile applications that pose a threat to the country’s security, said official sources.

The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) is expected to formally issue a notification banning the operations of these applications in India.

The latest government move will take the number of Chinese apps banned since the Galwan Valley clash to over 300. A precise count is difficult because several of the new apps sought to be banned are refurbished versions of previously banned ones. The apps against which the Home Ministry found adverse security inputs include SweetSelfie HD, Beauty Camera, Music Player, Music Plus, Volume Booster, VideoPlayers Media, Viva Video Editor, Nice Video Baidu, AppLock and Astracraft. Some of the hugely popular Chinese apps in India such as Tik Tok, UC Browser, WeChat and Bigo Live were banned in the first phase in June 2020 when the government said they were indulging in unauthorised transfer of user data to servers outside India. It also said “elements hostile to national security and defence of India were surreptitiously transferring data for profiling that was impinging on national security”.

China has in the past said these bans were in violation of the WTO non-discriminatory principles and fair competition and “severely damaged” the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese companies. The government also recently blocked 60 Pakistan-backed YouTube channels.

Security threat

The MHA says the apps pose threat to the country’s security

Among the apps are SweetSelfie HD, Beauty Camera, AppLock & Viva Video Editor