India has banned 54 Chinese apps that pose a security risk, according to the ministry of electronics and information technology.
These 54 apps are said to capture sensitive user data and get various key permissions. In a statement, the ministry stated that this real-time data is being misappropriated and sent to servers in unfriendly countries. Some of the apps that have been blocked include: Sweet
Selfie HD, Beauty Camera-Selfie Camera, Garena Free Fire-Illuminate, Viva Video Editor, Tencent Driver, Onmyoji Arena, AppLock, and Dual Space Lite.
In June of last year, India banned 59 Chinese smartphone applications, including popular social media platforms such as TikTok, WeChat, and Helo, citing a threat to the country’s sovereignty and security. According to the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, the apps were banned under Section 69A of the Information Technology Act.
Since the May 2020 border tensions with China, India has blacklisted 321 apps.
The first sanctions were declared in June 2020, just days after 20 Indian soldiers were killed in a skirmish with Chinese troops in eastern Ladakh’s Galway Valley. The
Indian and Chinese forces began a standoff in eastern Ladakh on May 5, 2020, after a deadly fight in the Pangong Lake areas, and both sides gradually increased their deployment by bringing in tens of thousands of soldiers and heavy equipment.
