India has apparently banned another 50 applications. The government has blacklisted more than 50 smartphone apps, which are most likely from China, and mark the latest wave of app bans in the country.
For those unaware, the Indian government had banned around 60 apps back in 2020 and another 60 a few months after. Now, it is rumored that the government has banned another 50 applications, which includes certain apps that had resurfaced as clones of previously banned ones. One of the notable bans may include the popular battle royale title, Garena Free Fire. Although, there is still no official list that reveal the names of all the applications that have been banned from the country.
According to ET Now on Twitter, sources have claimed that the new app ban wave is primarily to remove resurfaced applications that were clones. Furthermore, Garena Free Fire being pulled from Google Play Store and Apple App Store in India is likely due to Tencent having a major stake in the game’s parent company. However, there are currently no official news regarding why the game was removed from these app stores. So it is unknown if it was due to the government’s ban or some other reason.
Govt of India to ban 54 Chinese apps that pose a threat to India’s security: Sources
— ANI (@ANI) February 14, 2022
A separate report has suggested that the list of banned apps include, “Sweet Selfie HD, Beauty Camera – Selfie Camera, Equalizer & Bass Booster, CamCard for SalesForce Ent, Isoland 2: Ashes of Time Lite, Viva Video Editor, Tencent Xriver, Onmyoji Chess, Onmyoji Arena, AppLock, Dual Space Lite,” all of which were removed due to supposed threat to India’s national security.
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