June 30 (India Today) – TikTok has broken its silence on the government’s decision to ban 59 Chinese apps. The company said that they are complying with the government’s order and will meet with the government stakeholders to submit clarifications.
TikTok India head, Nikhil Gandhi issued a statement on Twitter, he said, “The Government of India has issued an interim order for the blocking of 59 apps, including TikTok and we are in the process of complying with it. We have been invited to meet with concerned government stakeholders for an opportunity to respond and submit clarifications. TikTok continues to comply with all data privacy and security requirements under Indian law and have not shared any information of our users in India with any foreign government, including the Chinese Government. Further if we are requested to in the future we would not do so. We place the highest importance on user privacy and integrity.”
The Indian government on Monday imposed a ban on 59 Chinese apps including TikTok, UC browser, Shareit, CamScanner among others. As per the latest developments, TikTok has already been removed from the App Store and Play Store while the other banned apps continue to feature on the two platforms.
The development comes in the wake of the violent clashes between India and China at the Galwan Valley which claimed the lives of many soldiers at the LAC. The anti-China sentiments have been on the rise ever since the tensions at the border escalated between the two countries. However, the government hasn’t cited the clash as the reason behind the ban. The IT Ministry has said that these apps were banned because they “engaged in activities prejudicial to sovereignty and integrity of India, defence of India, the security of state and public order.”
The apps will not only be banned but they will also be blocked by the government. So if you have the banned apps on your phone, you might not be able to use it anymore.“The Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre, Ministry of Home Affairs has also sent an exhaustive recommendation for blocking of these malicious apps… the government of India has decided to disallow the usage of (these) apps,” the release by the IT Ministry read. The apps will be blocked on the networks that are managed by the telecom brands including Airtel, Jio, and Vodafone. So once that is done, the apps will stop functioning completely.
