The Indian government has banned 118 mobile apps with supposed ties to or ownership in China.
In a press release issued September 2, the Indian Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology announced the ban on a number of mobile apps, citing “activities which is prejudicial to sovereignty and integrity of India, defence of India, security of state and public order.”
The Ministry claimed to have “received many complaints from various sources including several reports about 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.”
Included in the list of banned apps are Baidu, a China-based search engine, and the mobile version of PUBG, one of the most popular video games in India.
The Indian government had already banned several apps with alleged Chinese ties, including TikTok in July.
Despite the claims of potential security concerns, the move on the part of India to ban these apps is widely considered to be related to the escalating tensions between the two nations, which share a 2167 mile border.
The United States government has also recently announced that it was considering a similar ban on apps with links to China, following a partial ban on TikTok and WeChat.
