India Bans 54 More Chinese Apps The banned apps include Beauty Camera: Sweet Selfie HD, Beauty Camera - Selfie Camera, Equalizer & Bass Booster, CamCard for SalesForce Ent, Isoland 2: Ashes of Time Lite, Viva Video Editor, Tencent Xriver, Onmyoji Chess, Onmyoji Arena, AppLock and Dual Space Lite
By Shrabona Ghosh •
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The government of India has banned the use of 54 Chinese apps, said the ministry of electronics and information technology.
The banned apps include Beauty Camera: Sweet Selfie HD, Beauty Camera - Selfie Camera, Equalizer & Bass Booster, CamCard for SalesForce Ent, Isoland 2: Ashes of Time Lite, Viva Video Editor, Tencent Xriver, Onmyoji Chess, Onmyoji Arena, AppLock and Dual Space Lite.
According to ministry sources, the list of 54 apps includes some of those that had been banned by the Indian government earlier but had rebranded themselves and relaunched under new names. Several of these apps have been known to either run malicious software or directly send user information to China-based data centers without user consent, said a report.
Earlier, the government had banned Chinese smartphone apps, including popular applications like TikTok, Shareit, WeChat, Helo, Likee, UC News, Bigo Live, UC Browser, ES File Explorer and Mi Community, citing security threat issues.
The unprecedented ban on Chinese apps in 2020, took place after a fight between India and Chinese army on the Line of Actual Control near Ladakh. The government banned these apps on June 29 citing they were "prejudicial to sovereignty and integrity of India, defence of India, security of state and public order." The government immediately asked Google and Apple to remove these apps from their app stores for India. The move was hailed all across the country, resulting in some people even boycotting Chinese products such as smartphones. Reportedly, the government had prepared a list of over 250 Chinese apps, including apps linked to Alibaba, for privacy and security violations.
