The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology(MeitY), which has banned more than 175 Chinese apps, said on Tuesday it is banning an additional 43 such apps. Like with the previous orders, India cited cybersecurity concerns to block these apps.
India’s IT Ministry said in a statement that, “This action was taken based on the inputs regarding these apps for engaging in activities which are prejudicial to sovereignty and integrity of India, defence of India, the security of the state and public order”.
The ministry said it issued the order to block these apps “based on the comprehensive reports received from Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Center, Ministry of Home Affairs.”
This is the third such move by the Indian government with the more than six-month-long border tensions with China refusing to die down despite several rounds of negotiations at the diplomatic and military levels.
The apps were banned under Section 69A of the Information Technology Act.
The apps that have been banned include Tencent-backed popular short video service Snack Video, which had surged to the top of the chart in recent months, as well as e-commerce app AliExpress, delivery app Lalamove and shopping app Taobao Live. At this point, there doesn’t appear to be any Chinese app left in the top 500 apps used in India.