TikTok ban in India along with more than 50 Chinese oriented apps, such as Shareit, UC Browser, WeChat, has shocked millions of app users.
The authorities said the apps have been “prejudicial to sovereignty and integrity of India, defense of India, the security of the country and public order”.
China has requested India to uphold the legal rights of international firms.
But specialists say the banning decision – on the back of rising stress between India and China – is an immediate political move.
Anti-China sentiment has surged in India on account that earlier this month when conflicts between the two nuclear-power nations caused 20 Indian troops dead.
The conflict took place in the Himalayan location of Ladakh near Galwan Valley, the place where both the nations have increased deployment near to the conflicted border.
After all these clashes, boycott calls for all the Chinese productions came to surface, and authorities released directives to cut off all the Chinese deals with public sector companies.
But the banning on Chinese apps left the citizens surprised and shocked. The apps of the list to be banned include Weibo, Clash of Kings, Alibaba’s UC Browser, and e-commerce apps Club Factory and Shein.
The apps owners are in talks with the Indian government to fix the issue. On the other side, Beijing has asked India to review its decision.
“We want to stress that the Chinese government constantly asks Chinese organizations to abide by global and local laws-regulations. Indian authorities have a duty to uphold the legal rights of global investors which include Chinese ones” ANI news corporation costs Chinese overseas ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian as saying.
What Forced the ban?
India’s Ministry of Information Technology has stated the ban used to be the consequence of “complaints from a series of sources” about apps that have been “stealing and surreptitiously transmitting users’ sensitive information in an illegal manner”.
Many of the Chinese apps have been connected to controversies over the data privacy, and have been accused of sharing sensitive data with the Chinese government. US senators have even demanded an investigation into TikTok, which fiercely denies such claims.
This isn’t always the first time Chinese apps have been banned in India. In 2017, Alibaba’s UC Browser had come under the scanner for allegedly stealing mobile touchy data of Indian users. After the news emerged, India’s defense ministry ordered all armed personnel and officers to uninstall forty-two Chinese apps it listed as “spyware apps”, as per media reports.
Some, however, trust that the timing of the ban – amid escalating tensions – is no longer coincidental, however instead a response to the tensions at the border.
Nikhil Pahwa, the editor of MediaNama, told BBC,” this is purely a political move.”
According to Mr Pahwa, the ban will not have a major impact on the app’s revenue, however, the users will drop due to this ban.
Impact of the Ban
The TikTok ban in India along with other apps will influence tens of millions of the content makers in India.
“As China has shown, governments can certainly block apps – now not simply dispose of them from the app stores, which has already passed off in India, so you cannot deploy them afresh or upgrade a current install,” says tech policy expert Prasanto K Roy.
He moreover said that even though there are ways to get round the ban, it will “effectively kill” famous apps.
“If over 95% of a hundred million users exit, that devastatingly damages the ‘network effect’ and most of the content, and as a result, an app like TikTok no longer remains the center of attraction.”
India is TikTok’s largest foreign market, with an estimated a hundred and twenty million regular-active app consumers.
In the years due to the fact it has launched in India, the app has surfaced as a platform for Indians of all ages. The app has turned millions of normal Indians into social media stars.
And Mr Roy stated the TikTok ban in India would have a negative impact on all Indians who had been generating revenue and increasing commercial links through these apps.
“The lots of TikTok influencers who had been making a living off the platform and the many Indian traders and businessmen who need to connect with people in China and do that over WeChat —this cuts them off.”
He consents that there is a purpose for concern round how the apps treat person data, however, he says the response ought to be in the form of a privateness law, which India doesn’t have.
“It’s a soft strike at the Chinese, payback for the claimed border violations and latest violent conflict,” he adds.
Nikhil Gandhi, the TikTok’s India head, took this on Twitter and stated the company has been invited to talk on the concerned issue with government stakeholders and to submit the clarification.
Other apps makers are yet to reply to the ban. Experts say that most of these corporations will attempt to foyer policymakers however they are no longer probable to be allowed as long as tensions proceed at the border and anti-China sentiments continue to be excessive in the country.
Recent Details
Recently, reports came in from Forbes in which the user Zak Doffman implied that TikTok is targeting and secretly scouting millions of iPhone users which the company recently found out and caught the anomaly right off the bat. The user implied that he recently reported in June 23 that Apple has fixed this issue in the IOS 14 version in which the apps can access the clipboard without the user’s knowing. Zak also warned about the issue earlier this year that this risk can’t be unlooked as countless apps breached privacy.
