NEW DELHI (REUTERS): The Indian government has banned 59 applications, mostly Chinese, including TikTok and UC Browser over security concerns.
WeChat, Helo and shopping app Clubfactory are among the other prominent apps which have been banned. According to the Indian Ministry of Information Technology, the apps are ‘prejudicial to sovereignty and integrity of India, defence of India, the security of the state and public order’.
According to a press release, the Indian government has banned these applications invoking its power under section 69A of the Information Technology Act read with the relevant provisions of the Information Technology (Procedure and Safeguards for Blocking of Access of Information by Public) Rules 2009.
The statement from the Indian ministry further said that it has received many complaints from various sources including several reports about the misuse of some mobile apps available on Android and iOS platforms for stealing and surreptitiously transmitting users’ data in an unauthorized manner to servers which have locations outside India.
The Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre, Ministry of Home Affairs has also sent an exhaustive recommendation for blocking these malicious apps.
In this regard, India’s Information Technology Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said, “The step was taken for the safety, security, defence, sovereignty & integrity of India.”
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