The latest move of the Indian Government has proved that Chinese-origin apps won’t catch a break any time soon.
Today, the GOI, Under 69A of the Information Technology Act, blocked 43 Chinese applications in India.
The Centre, in an official statement about the same, said that the action was initiated based on inputs the Indian Government received about the apps engaging in activities which are considered “prejudicial to sovereignty and integrity of India, defence of India, the security of the state and public order.”
The blocking of these additional 43 Chinese apps has been issued by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology after the body received comprehensive reports from the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Center and the Ministry of Home Affairs.
This time, the list of banned apps include the popular Chinese e-commerce site AliExpress which most certainly comes as another big setback to Alibaba, after its $37-billion initial public offering (IPO) of Ant Group was halted in China quite recently.
The Complete List of The 43 Banned Chinese Apps Are As Follows:
- AliSuppliers Mobile App
- Alibaba Workbench
- AliExpress – Smarter Shopping, Better Living
- Alipay Cashier
- Lalamove India – Delivery App
- Drive with Lalamove India
- Snack Video
- CamCard – Business Card Reader
- CamCard – BCR (Western)
- Soul- Follow the soul to find you
- Chinese Social – Free Online Dating Video App & Chat
- Date in Asia – Dating & Chat For Asian Singles
- WeDate-Dating App
- Free dating app-Singol, start your date!
- Adore App
- TrulyChinese – Chinese Dating App
- TrulyAsian – Asian Dating App
- ChinaLove: dating app for Chinese singles
- DateMyAge: Chat, Meet, Date Mature Singles Online
- AsianDate: find Asian singles
- FlirtWish: chat with singles
- Guys Only Dating
- Tubit: Live Streams
- WeWorkChina
- First Love Live- super hot live beauties live online
- Rela – Social Network
- Cashier Wallet
- MangoTV
- MGTV-HunanTV official TV APP
- WeTV – TV version
- WeTV – Cdrama, Kdrama&More
- WeTV Lite
- Lucky Live-Live Video Streaming App
- Taobao Live
- DingTalk
- Identity V
- Isoland 2: Ashes of Time
- BoxStar (Early Access)
- Heroes Evolved
- Happy Fish
- Jellipop Match-Decorate your dream island！
- Munchkin Match: magic home building
- Conquista Online II
Five months ago, on 28 June 2020, the GOI had blocked access to 59 Chinese origin apps after which, in quick succession, on 2nd September 2020, further 118 more apps were banned under the same section of the Information Technology Act.
The earlier banned apps included the much-acclaimed TikTok short video app, PUBG Mobile, Baidu, Baidu Express Edition, Tencent Watchlist, FaceU, WeChat Reading, Ludo All-Star, Alipay and Tencent Weiyun and many more.
The GOI’s latest move stems from the ongoing border tensions between India and China which first escalated in the month of May when Indian soldiers detected Chinese troops were trying to intrude into the Indian Territory. Soon after that, on 15th June, when soldiers from both sides got engaged in a violent battle, 20 Indian troops lost their lives.
That was the moment when India decided to first attack China’s app economy by banning 59 apps along with blocking key Chinese investment routes by changing the FDI rules.
Now, while it is anyone’s guess if there still remains more apps which will be later added to the GOI block list which now accounts for a total of Chinese origin 220 apps, there’s one thing that can be unanimously agreed upon – The Chinese mobile apps which are being struck off won’t be back anytime soon for they will get tangled into a humongous web of bureaucracy.
