- India has compiled a list of 275 Chinese apps that it will review for any violation of national security and might ban including PUBG Mobile.
- India has also banned 47 Chinese apps which were clones of 59 banned Chinese apps in June. The clone apps which are prohibited include Tik Tok Light and Cam Scanner Advance.
India has compiled a list of 275 Chinese apps that it will review for any violation of national security and might ban including PUBG Mobile.
According to technology intelligence company Sensor Tower figures, India is the largest market for PubG, producing about 175 million installs to date, or 24 percent of total downloads.
This follows last month’s high-profile ban on 59 Chinese apps, including the short TikTok video app, amidst simmering geopolitical tensions between the two Asian giants.
The list, checked by ET, includes gaming app PubG backed by China’s most valuable internet company Tencent, phone maker Zili Xiaomi, e-commerce giant Alibaba’s AliExpress, as well as apps such as Russo and TikTok-owner ByteDance’s ULike.
“The government can ban all, some or none of them from the list,” one person quoted earlier said.
India has also banned 47 Chinese apps which were clones of 59 banned Chinese apps in June. The clone apps which are prohibited include Tik Tok Light and Cam Scanner Advance. The order was released Friday (July 24) to suspend 47 Chinese ‘clone’ devices Order.
Official reports, however, have said reviews aimed at finding more Chinese apps and their funding is ongoing. “Many of these apps were red-flagged due to security reasons while others were identified because of data sharing violations and privacy issues,” an official explained.
This is in addition to examining the alleged flow of data from these apps to China which poses a threat to India ‘s sovereignty and integrity, according to officials who pointed to what they called China’s data-sharing standard requiring Chinese-origin companies to share data with the home country, irrespective of where they operate.
India banned the 59 Chinese apps—after a violent face-off between the two countries’ armed forces on 15 June—as they cited threats to national security and public order. China criticized the move, saying the ban was “strongly concerned.”
Chinese Internet firms have some 300 million unique users in India, suggesting that almost two-thirds of the country’s smartphone users have downloaded a Chinese app, industry estimates say.
Among the Chinese apps currently under review are Xiaomi ‘s 14 MI apps, as well as lesser-known ones like Capcut and FaceU. Apps from other Internet and Tech majors in China, such as Meitu, LBE Tech, Perfect Corp, Sina Corp, Netease Games, Yoozoo Global are also present.
The list also includes companies such as Supercell, located in Finland, which have investments from Chinese technology firms. Tencent last year bought a controlling stake in the gaming business.
Meanwhile, a government committee formed to investigate the data practices of the 59 banned Chinese apps will review the responses of the companies — the deadline for which this week expires
Asia’s fifth-largest economy is now the frontline for Chinese and American Internet majors who are fighting to dominate one of the world’s largest and most accessible internet markets, with an estimated 450 million mobile user base.
