India to permanently ban 59 Chinese apps, including TikTok

Almost seven months after it issued show cause notices to 59 Chinese apps following a prolonged border standoff with China, the government has now issued new notices to these apps in a bid to permanently block them in the country.

The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), in a communication to the apps last week, has said that their answers and clarifications following the ban were found to be inadequate. As a result, the temporary block has now been made permanent.

The government had banned 59 Chinese apps in June end last year referring to them as being ‘prejudicial’ to India’s sovereignty, integrity and national security. The list included TikTok, Helo, We Chat, Alibaba’s UC Browser and UC News, Shein, Club Factory, Likee, Bigo Live, Kwai, Clash of Kings and Cam Scanner besides others.