Earlier this month, there had been a clash at the Indo-China border in Galwan valley that had left 20 Indian soldiers dead and others injured. Since then, there has been many protests against Chinese goods and services as well as companies associated with the neighbouring country in any way.
While some had resorted to burning effigies of Chinese leader Xi Jinping and destroying Chinese goods, government organisations too appears to have taken steps to distance themselves from the neighbouring country.
On Monday, June 29, the government released a lengthy list with 59 names. These are Chinese apps that will now be banned in India.
The list includes many a popular site, including apps such as Tiktok, and many others.
TikTok is a Chinese video-sharing social networking service owned by ByteDance, a Beijing-based technology company founded in 2012 by Zhang Yiming. It is used to create short dance, lip-sync, comedy and talent videos.
Following the ban, Tiktok and 58 other apps were removed from Google Play Store and Apple App Store. Users can no longer install Tiktok on their devices.
But users, who already had Tiktok on their phones, could still operate the app.
However, the ban is now complete as even existing Tiktok users are not able to operate the app.
When the app is opened, a small notice is displayed on the screen. "Dear users, we are in the process of complying with the Government of India's directive to block 59 apps. Ensuring the privacy and security of all users in India remains our utmost priority," the notice read.
However, one may think that using a VPN can help users to operate the app. A virtual private network (VPN) gives you online privacy and anonymity by creating a private network from a public internet connection. VPNs mask your internet protocol (IP) address so your online actions are virtually untraceable.
But, it is not possible to operate the app, even with the use of a VPN.
China-based CamScanner is also on the list of the 59 apps that have been banned.
As per a press note published by the government, there apps were "prejudicial to sovereignty and integrity of India, defence of India, security of state and public order". The notice adds that these apps had prosed many concerns including those regarding security and the safety of user data.
"There has been a strong chorus in the public space to take strict action against Apps that harm India's sovereignty as well as the privacy of our citizens. 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," the notice explained.
