India bans 43 more Mobile Apps, including e-commerce Giant ‘Alibaba’

The Centre on Tuesday banned 43 more mobile apps, mostly Chinese-owned, including four owned by the e-commerce giant, Alibaba Group. The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology banned these mobile apps under Section 69A of the Information Technology Act.

The government has blocked 43 more mobile apps, mostly Chinese, for activities that are “prejudicial to sovereignty and integrity of India, defence of India, security of state and public order”. Four apps owned by China’s retail giant, the Alibaba Group, are on the latest banned list.

The blocked apps include Alibaba Workbench, AliExpress, Alipay Cashier, CamCard and WeDate. Previously apps like TikTok, Bigo Live, PUBG Mobile, which were all very popular in India, were banned, in what ministers have described as a “digital strike”. Those apps were also banned under section 69A of the Information Technology Act.

The order was issued based on comprehensive reports received from Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Center, Ministry of Home Affairs.

The government had first banned 59 Chinese apps in June as tension with China peaked following the deaths of 20 Indian soldiers in a clash with Chinese troops in eastern Ladakh’s Galwan Valley. In September, the government banned 118 more apps saying they posed a threat to the country’s sovereignty, a total of 220 apps now stand blocked.

“The government is committed to protect the interests of citizens and sovereignty and integrity of India on all fronts and it shall take all possible steps to ensure that,” the Centre said today.