India has decided to keep the ban on TikTok and 58 other Chinese apps in place after completing a review of the companies’ responses to issues such as compliance and privacy. Those apps include TikTok, the popular video-sharing App from ByteBeat, Tencent’s WeChat and Alibaba’s UC Browser. It’s unclear how long the ban will last. Reuters quoted the Economic Times of India as saying late Monday that the ban would be made permanent.
India is maintaining its ban on 59 Chinese apps, including TikTok, according to a Reuters report today, and it’s not clear how long the ban will last. The report today cited two sources with direct knowledge of the situation that India decided to keep the ban on TikTok and 58 other Chinese apps in place after completing a review of the companies’ responses to compliance and privacy issues, among other things.
When India’s Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology initially imposed the ban in June, it gave the 59 Chinese apps a chance to explain themselves, asking for answers to questions such as whether they conduct content censorship, work for foreign governments or lobby influential people. The apps include ByteDance’s popular video-sharing app TikTok, Tencent’s WeChat and Alibaba’s UC Browser.
After reviewing the companies’ responses, the government panel evaluating the ban decided to maintain the government’s position on the issue for now, arguing that the ban is in India’s national security and sovereign interests, according to a source. The source said the Indian government has sent notices to the companies informing them of the decision.
It was not immediately clear how long the ban would last. The Economic Times of India reported late Monday that the ban would be made permanent.
TikTok said in a statement that it was evaluating the notice and would respond.
India in September issued bans on 118 other mobile apps, including Tencent’s “PUBG” game, increasing its efforts to crack down on Chinese tech companies. The 118 apps will remain banned, and India has yet to make a decision on the matter.
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