India has banned 47 more Chinese apps just weeks after blocking the highly popular video-sharing platform TikTok and 58 others over national security and privacy concerns, an Indian information ministry official and media reports said Monday.
Tensions between the world’s two most-populous nations soared last month after a Himalayan border clash that left 20 Indian troops dead and an unknown number of Chinese casualties.
‘We have banned 47 mobile apps from China in this ongoing exercise which highlights the government’s seriousness about data privacy and security,’ the official, who asked to remain anonymous, told news agency AFP. Most of these 47 apps are banned for the same reasons as the earlier 59, and many were lite versions or variants of the earlier banned applications.’
Chinese apps Included in the latest ban are Tiktok Lite, Helo Lite, SHAREit Lite, BIGO LIVE Lite and VFY, however a full list of the 47 apps was not immediately available.
There has been no official statement or order released by the government about the ban but it has been widely reported across major Indian media.
