Chinese Apps Ban: Timeline Of All Banned Apps Since June

Ever since the tensions increased between Indian and Chinese forces along with LAC, The Government of India decided to ban several Chinese Apps. The apps have been banned for violating certain clauses under the Information Technology Act of the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology.

But all the apps weren’t banned on one go. The ban was enforced in phases over the last few months. So let’s have a look at how the ban was carried out and the timeline of the Chinese Apps Ban.

• 59 Chinese Apps Banned including TikTok in June

The first sweep of the Government of India to ban Chinese Apps included one of the most popular apps in the country then, TikTok. The banned apps were deemed to be “prejudicial to the sovereignty and integrity of India, defense of India, the security of the state, and public order” resulting in the ban. The other popular apps in the list also include UC Browser, Clash of Kings, ES File Explorer, CamScanner, ShareIt, Helo, Likee, Xender, and many more. Within just a couple of days, the apps were removed from Google Play Store and Apple App Store. The apps were still accessible through VPNs but in a few days, they couldn’t be accessed even using a VPN.

• 47 Apps Banned in July

The first wave of banned apps resulted in several clone apps and alternatives of the banned apps coming up which included the likes of TikTok Lite, Helo Lite, ShareIt Lite, Bigo Live Lite, and so on. This list of banned apps did not include any big notable names. But reports claimed that the Government had shortlisted another list of as many as 275 apps that were under the radar and being screened thoroughly.

• 118 Apps Banned including PUBG Mobile in September

The biggest app clearing done by the Government yet included 118 apps and most importantly the trending Battle Royale game PUBG Mobile. The other apps also banned included WeChat, Baidu, Arena of Valor, and VPNs for TikTok. Very soon after the ban, in a bid to relaunch the game in India, PUBG corporation cut ties with Tencent Games to ease the dialogue with the Government of India.

• 43 Chinese Apps Banned In November

The latest removal of Chinese apps done earlier this week majorly included apps from Alibaba. The banned apps included AliExpress, AliPay, Alibaba Workbench, Snack Video, Adore App, and many more. The Ministry of Electronics and Informations Technology stated the apps were ‘prejudicial to sovereignty and integrity of India, defence of India, security of state and public order’ which resulted in them being banned.

The Government of India has made its intentions clear in regards to China and Chinese apps with the banning of 267 apps over a period of 6 months. It won’t be surprising to see more apps being banned in the coming months.

However, after cutting all ties with China, PUBG Mobile will be creating a new subsidiary called PUBG Mobile India Pvt Ltd to relaunch the game in India after it received permission to operate in the country earlier this week.