The temporary ban placed on the 59 Chinese-origin apps is now permanent as per the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY)’s orders, reports say.
The list of applications that include popular video-sharing app, TikTok, WeChat, Shein, CleanMaster, UC Browser, and others, were suspended in June 2020 after the government raised questions. As such, the department issued notices last week stating, “The government is not satisfied with the response/explanation given by these companies. Hence, the ban for these 59 apps is permanent now.”
Earlier in June when the ban was first placed, the Ministry had said that the suspension is crucial as the apps were “prejudicial to sovereignty and integrity of India, defense of India, the security of the state and public order”.
After suspending the apps, the government sought explanations from the app owners regarding the user data getting collected and its compliance with the security regulations involving privacy and security. However, seems like the Centre did not get convinced with the reply following which the notice was issued.
Although this has eradicated any chance for the 59 apps to make a comeback in India, it doesn’t bring enough light on the fate of the other 118 apps that were banned in September 2020. This would include the infamous smartphone game PUBG that had garnered a tremendous user base in India. The company, however, launched an Indian version called PUBG Mobile India in November 2020, with the entire employee base consisting of Indians.
The game did not find luck here as the Ministry said it hadn’t provided any permission for the relaunch of the app.
The development could leave the hundreds of new hires unemployed if TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, would go ahead and fire all. However, NDTV reported that the India team was retained and shifted to cater to the global market, though it is unclear as to when this will continue now that the fresh announcements have raised tensions.
“We are evaluating the notice and will respond to it as appropriate. TikTok was among the first companies to comply with the government of India directive issued on June 29, 2020. We continually strive to comply with local laws and regulations and do our best to address any concerns the government may have. Ensuring the privacy and security of all our users remains to be our topmost priority,” a TikTok representative told media.
