WASHINGTON: US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has appreciated India’s sweeping ban on Chinese apps, including TikTok.
Pompeo said, “We welcome India’s ban on certain mobile apps that can serve as appendages of the CCP surveillance state.
He further said, “India’s clean app approach will increase its sovereignty and will also boost India’s integrity and national security, as the Indian government cell itself has stated,” he added.
India had been the top international market for TikTok, the blockbuster Chinese app popular with young people that lets users upload and share short videos.
On June 29, the Indian government had 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’.
The Indian government had 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, it added.
The statement from the Indian ministry further said that it had 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.
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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