India to ban PubG along with 118 more apps

The Indian Government has released a public statement today, which stated the ban of 118 Chinese apps, including PubG. The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology has banned these apps under section 69A, on the grounds that they violate the laws of privacy of its users. The section 69A of Information Technology Act specifically reads “they are engaged in activities which are prejudicial to sovereignty and integrity of India, defence of India, security of state and public order”.

Previously, the Indian government had banned 59 Chinese apps, including the widely popular Tik Tok. This was in retaliation to the Galwan Valley attacks that China had led against India. The previously banned apps include Cam Scanner, We Chat, UC Browser and several others.

The current list of apps include Baidu, Baidu Express Edition, Tencent Watchlist, FaceU, WeChat Reading and Tencent Weiyun, and many others, alongside PubG. The ban of PuvG comes as yet another great shock, given the number of users that consume the app on a daily basis.

The Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre, under the Ministry of Home Affairs, had previously suggested the ban of these apps, based on the fact that these apps use the information of a user against/unbeknownst to them. This definitely goes against the right to privacy and the overall sovereignty of India.

More shocks to China can be expected very soon, with India still planning more cut downs for the rival nation from within the country. On the other hand, tensions at the India China border continue to remain the same, with a war still not seeming highly unlikely.