Chinese apps banned | Govt panel to investigate data-sharing practices of Chinese apps: Report

The Government of India banned 59 Chinese apps stating that they engaged in activities that are "prejudicial to the sovereignty and integrity of India, defence of India, security of state and public order.” These banned apps have been given 48 hours to clarify on the data-sharing practices and to prove that the data was not being shared to servers in China.

A top-level government panel will be probing the data practices of the banned Chinese apps on July 1, according to a report by The Economic Times.

Moneycontrol could not independently verify the report.

Representatives of top social media apps like TikTok, Bigo Live, etc., have already confirmed to cooperate with the government officials in the investigation.

Officials from the Ministry of Home Affairs, Ministry of Electronics & IT, Ministry of Information & Broadcasting, and Law & Justice will be part of the panel, along with Sanjay Bahl, director-general of CERT-In — India’s nodal agency for internet security. 

 “Given the threat to national security and public order, the ban was necessary at a time of increasing tensions with China,” as per a senior government official quoted in the report.

“Emergency provisions under the law were invoked to ban the apps owing to concerns that some of these were being used for “espionage” on Indians, the official said as per the report. 

Government officials are confident that the interim ban order, which is provisional under the law, will stand legal scrutiny. “We don’t think any court will disagree with the government and ask us to conduct an inquiry before banning the apps, especially in such a tense situation,” said a top official. 

A lawyer representing ByteDance indicated the company may not approach courts directly and will first try to engage with the government.

Soon after the ban was ordered, TikTok went completely offline and stopped working on both iOS and Android devices.

The app showed a message which read, “Dear users, we are in the process of complying with the Government of India’s directive to block 59 apps. Ensuring the privacy and security of all our users in India remains our utmost priority.”