It is known that the Government of India has banned a total of around 300 Chinese apps since June 2020, terming them as a threat to the privacy and security of Indians. Some of the popular applications, like TikTok, Shareit, WeChat, Helo, were also blocked during the first round.
Now, the government has issued orders to ban 54 apps that have connections to China and pose a threat to the country’s security. The apps that would be restricted include Garena Free Fire, Tencent’s Xriver, and NetEase’s Onmyoji Arena.
“These 54 apps allegedly get various critical permissions and collect sensitive user data. These collected real-time data are being misused and transferred to servers located in hostile country,” the government said.
“In addition, these apps were allegedly engaged in activities prejudicial to the sovereignty and integrity of the country, also posing a serious threat to security of the State and defence of India.”