India Strikes Back: Banning Chinese apps in India

As the tension between the two countries increased on the borders, India decided to ban around 106 apps on 29th  June, 2020. These apps are either created by Chinese companies or by someone who has link with Chinese companies. These applications include some of the popular apps like Shareit, TikTok, Pubg and many more.

Tension at the Border

During this sensitive time of global pandemic, India and China were at the verge of having a war. In late May, there was a melee battle between the Chinese as well as Indian soldiers at the Sino-Indian borders. According to the reports, there has been death of 20 Indian soldiers and some casualties on the Chinese side with death of one of their officers. Both countries held some of the soldier’s captive which were further released later on. There is also news of shots being fired on 7th of September which was first time after 45 years that shots have been fired on that border, both sides blaming each other for the firing.

An interesting discovery

Then around the same time the Ministry of Electronic and Information Technology (MeitY), received multiple complaints for various source about the misuse of the private data of the user by the Chinese applications. On further investigation they found out that some Chinese applications have asked for permissions in their privacy policies that are not relevant and can be used to harm the individual in various forms. These permissions range from accessing their location to accessing their files, which can be used by a third party without the knowledge of the individual.

The clashes between the Indian and the Chinese soldiers at the Line of Actual Control (LAC) and after finding the fact that the Chinese companies have been using the private information of the users created an anti-China sentiment in the Indians and they started boycotting Chinese products. The Government took a step further and on 29th  June, 2020 they banned 59 Chinese applications in India. These applications include some of the popular apps like UCBrowser, Shareit, Xender, WeChat, TikTok and many more.

Economical Losses

Among these applications TikTok is the one that hit the Chinese economy the hardest. Just when TikTok crossed 112 million downloads in the India in May, banning the application resulted in the loss of $6 billion to the Chinese companies. To overcome the unemployment and the tension created due to the banning these applications (as during this time of covid-19 they were a source of entertainment to the citizens), there has been a release of some alternative applications that people are using instead of the Chinese versions. Instagram reels is a feature that has been introduced by the Instagram as an alternative to Tiktok as is becoming as popular as Tiktok.

The Government didn’t stop at this, on 2nd September 2020, the government further banned 47 applications that were owned by Chinese companies. These companies include Xiaomi, Tencent, Alibaba, and others. From the total 106 applications that were banned by the government, PubG hit the Chinese companies the hardest of all resulting in the loss of $ 34 billion to the Tencent company. Not only this the government has taken steps to block the access of these application by the Internet Service Providers (ISP’s) so that even if the applications are downloaded on the phone, they can’t be used in the country.

Conclusion

I really support the government with these efforts to stop the Chinese products to be used in the country and increase the use of Indian products ensuring quality and creating employment opportunities for the citizens. Just like Martin Luther Jr. said, ” Human progress is neither automatic nor inevitable… Every step toward the goal of justice requires sacrifice, suffering, and struggle; the tireless exertions and passionate concern of dedicated individuals” on MLK day (2010). The struggle Indian citizens are facing right now is necessary which will help to create a great future for the country in the long run. I also appreciate the support that the citizens have shown during this crucial time and helped the government to reach till here.