India bans 59 Chinese apps, including TikTok

Text by: RFI Follow

The authorities claim that their use poses security risks, without specifying which ones. A ban that comes especially two weeks after the most serious confrontation since 1967 between the armies of the two countries, on their disputed border in the Himalayas.

Publicity

From our correspondent in New Delhi , Sébastien Farcis

TikTok, Weibo, WeChat and 56 other well-known Chinese mobile applications are targeted. New Delhi claims that these applications violate Indian sovereignty by transferring data illegally outside India. This ban mainly represents the beginning of an attempt to boycott Chinese products, after the death of 20 Indian soldiers in the Himalayan region of Ladakh .

However, the implementation of this measure will be complicated, explains Srinivas Kodali, researcher specializing in social networks: "  These companies will be able to use alternative online stores, like that of Amazon, or that called F-droid where you can download applications that are open source. The problem is that you will not be able to check if these applications are authentic or if they contain viruses. By imposing this ban, the Indian government could therefore be putting the Indians at risk. "

The Indian authorities assure that they will give these applications the opportunity to defend themselves in the coming days, before completely imposing their ban. The TikTok social network has already disconnected its Indian users, to indicate to the government that it was ready to collaborate. 

Newsletter Receive all international news directly in your mailbox

Follow all international news by downloading the RFI application

• India
• Social media
• Internet
• China

On the same subject

Facing India, the Chinese army has enlisted MMA fighters and mountaineers