Centre bans 47 more apps linked to China

Most of them clones of apps blocked earlier

THE BANNED clones include TikTok Lite, Helo Lite, Shareit Lite and Bigo Live Lite, among others A COMPLETE list of the banned apps has not been released yet

New Delhi, July 27: India has banned 47 more apps with links to China, most being clones or from the same parent company whose main applications were banned last month, a source said.

The banned clones include TikTok Lite, Helo Lite, Shareit Lite and Bigo Live Lite, among others.

A complete list of the banned applications has not been released yet.

This takes the total number of mobile applications banned for being prejudicial to the sovereignty, integrity and defence of the country to 106.

The 47 apps that have been banned now are mostly clones and variants of the applications which were blocked earlier, the source privy to the development said.

The government had last month banned 59 Chinese apps, including TikTok, CamScanner, Shareit, UC Browser, Baidu Map, Bigo Live and Vigo Video.

The banned apps also included Helo, Likee, Mi Video Call — Xiaomi, Clash of Kings as well as e-commerce platforms Club Factory and Shein.

Then on July 21, the government directed the 59 apps to ensure strict compliance to its orders, and warned of serious action in case of any violation.

In fact, the IT ministry wrote to the said companies warning that continued availability and operation of the banned apps, directly or indirectly, would be an offence under the Information Technology Act and other applicable laws, and would attract penal provisions.

The ministry had made it clear that if any app in the banned list is found to be made available by the company through any means for use within India, directly or indirectly, it would be construed as a violation of the government orders.