Google, Apple pull out 59 banned Chinese apps

New Delhi, July 2: The 59 Chinese apps banned by the government have been taken down from Google Play Store and Apple App Store in India, blocking their access to mobile phone users in the country.

The government had on Monday banned 59 Chinese applications saying they were prejudicial to sovereignty, integrity and security of the country.

A day later popular short video app TikTok was taken down from Google Play Store and Apple App Store. The other 58 Chinese apps have now also been removed. Google said that it has temporarily blocked access to the banned apps on its India Play Store.

“While we continue to review the interim orders from the government of India, we have notified the affected developers and have temporarily blocked access to the apps that remained available on the Play Store in India,” a Google spokesperson said.

However, the spokesperson did not disclose details of the apps that Google had blocked. Similar action has been taken by the Apple App Store, sources said.

Chinese apps removed from Play Store and App Store include UC Browser, SHAREit, WeChat, CamScanner, and Mi Community. TikTok app has gone offline and stopped working completely for users in India.

Meanwhile, TikTok spokesperson said the firm does not plan to take legal action against the government ban.

“We have no plans to pursue such action. We are committed to working with the government to address its concerns. We comply with the laws and regulations of the government of India. Ensuring the data sovereignty, security and privacy of our users has always been and will continue to be a top priority for us,” the spokesperson said.

According to sources, developers of many of the 59 banned apps had taken down their apps from Google Play Store voluntarily. Meanwhile, in a statement, one of the banned apps Bigo Live said it has temporarily taken off the app from Google Play and App Store in India.