What you need to know
- India is reportedly considering a ban on 275 more Chinese apps.
- The list of apps includes PUBG, AliExpress, and Zili by Xiaomi.
- India had banned 59 Chinese apps last month, including TikTok.
The Indian government banned a total of 59 Chinese apps last month, including popular video-sharing app TikTok, amid rising geopolitical tensions between the two countries. According to a new report from ET Tech, India could soon ban over 200 more apps of Chinese origin.
The list accessed by the publication includes the popular mobile game PUBG Mobile by Tencent, AliExpress by Alibaba, and Zili by Xiaomi. Apps from companies like Meitu, LBE Tech, Perfect Corp, Sina Corp, Netease Games, Yoozoo Global, and ByteDance are also said to be present in the list. As per the report, a total of 275 apps are being reviewed by the Indian government currently for violation of national security and user privacy. A person familiar with the matter told ET Tech that the government might ultimately ban all, some, or none of the apps from the list.
While it remains to be seen if PUBG will end up getting banned in India, the country today banned 47 Chinese apps that were clones of apps that had already been banned last month. A complete list of the banned apps, however, hasn't been made public just yet.
Govt. bans 47 such apps which are clones of those #apps that have already been banned earlier pic.twitter.com/2tRBkAvfhtGovt. bans 47 such apps which are clones of those #apps that have already been banned earlier pic.twitter.com/2tRBkAvfht— DD News (@DDNewslive) July 27, 2020July 27, 2020
Just like ByteDance-owned TikTok, PUBG has a huge user base in India, with around 175 million installs. In fact, data from app intelligence firm Sensor Tower reveals India is the largest market for PUBG globally, accounting for 24% of the total downloads.
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