Earlier in July, the authorities had banned 59 Chinese apps including TikTok and WeChat after a skirmish between the armies of two nations at the border. Apart from PUBG and PUBG lite, the government has banned VPN for TikTok, Alipay, Sina News, Dual Space – Multiple Accounts & App Cloner, LivU, and ShareSave by Xiaomi. Right now, most of these apps are available on Google Play Store and Apple App Store. But we expect them to be removed soon. [Read: We asked 3 CEOs what tech trends will dominate post-COVID] India’s Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology accessed these apps of “stealing and surreptitiously transmitting users’ data in an unauthorized manner to servers which have locations outside India.” In a statement, the ministry said that it’s banning these apps o maintain the sovereignty of the country:
— Aishwarya Kapoor (@aishkapoor) September 2, 2020 A lot of these apps belong to a developer named iJoySoft Dev, and its website clearly doesn’t have many details.
PUBG was one of the most popular gaming apps in the country with over 175 million installs and more than 50 million active users in the country. You can check out the full list here. Did you know we have an online event about digital art coming up? Join the Form Track at TNW2020 to explore how technology is changing how we create, experience, and share art.