New Delhi, November 24, 2020 (PPI-OT): The Indian government has blocked 43 more mobile apps, mostly Chinese, citing security concerns. Four apps owned by China’s retail giant, the Alibaba Group, are on the latest banned list. The Indian Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology said today that the apps were banned under Section 69A of the Information Technology Act.
The move was based on “comprehensive reports received from Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Center, Ministry of Home Affairs,” said a government statement. The Modi government had first banned 59 Chinese apps in June as tension with China peaked following the deaths of 20 Indian soldiers and injuring of over 70 others in a clash with Chinese troops in eastern Ladakh’s Galwan Valley.
In September, the Indian government banned 118 more apps saying they posed a threat to the country’s sovereignty. A total of 220 apps now stand blocked, including the viral video platform TikTok and the popular mobile shooting game, PUBG, in what ministers have described as a “digital strike”. The blocked apps include Alibaba Workbench, AliExpress, Alipay Cashier, CamCard and WeDate.
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