India Just Banned TikTok and Dozens of Other Chinese Apps

Citing security issues, India’s government has banned Chinese-owned TikTok and dozens of other Chinese mobile apps over alleged data and privacy issues.

India’s Ministry of Information Technology “has decided to block 59 apps since in view of information available they are engaged in activities which is prejudicial to sovereignty and integrity of India, defense of India, security of state and public order,” according to the press release.

TikTok is operated by China’s ByteDance and lets users create short videos and overlay voices or music.
Sensor Tower has found that the app has found a huge market in India. It surpassed 2 billion downloads in April.

This is not the first time that India has banned the app. It was in May of 2019 that India’s government banned TikTok for two weeks after a court ruled that it could expose children on the app to sexual predators and graphic content. At the time TikTok appealed and the court reversed its ruling.

WeChat, a messaging app, and Weibo, a Chinese social network that’s similar to Twitter were also banned by India’s government.