Entry barriers: Modi govt mulls tough data storage norms to deter Chinese apps

The ministry of electronics and information technology (MeitY) plans to shortly formulate a set of intermediary guidelines to regulate Internet apps and social media platforms based on the country of origin. The issue has gained prominence in the light of the recent banning of around 59 Chinese apps by the government on national security concerns. Official sources said that though the current provisions in the Information Technology Act empowers the government to ban apps and block content which threaten national security, sovereignty, etc, a framework needs to be put in place regarding other operational details as well.

Meanwhile, the government on Monday is understood to have banned 47 more Chinese apps, taking the total number of mobile applications banned to 106. The 47 additional Chinese apps that have been banned are clones and variants of the apps which were blocked earlier.