Is TikTok working, when will ban come into force in India and will it hurt China

New Delhi, June 30: India has banned 59 apps from China, including TikTok. The ban was enforced under Section 69A of the Information Technology Act 2000, with deals with the powers to issue directions for blocking public access of any information through any computer resource.

The act says, "where the Central Government or any of its officers specially authorised by it... is satisfied that it is necessary or expedient so to do, in the interest of sovereignty and integrity of India, defence of India, security of the State, friendly relations with foreign States or public order or for preventing incitement to the commission of any cognizable offence relating to above, it may... by order, direct any agency of the Government or intermediary to block for access by the public or cause to be blocked for access by the public any information generated, transmitted, received, stored or hosted in any computer resource."

We received many complaints from various sources including several reports about misuse of some mobile apps... for stealing and surreptitiously transmitting users' data in an unauthorised manner to servers which have locations outside India. Since this "ultimately impinges upon the sovereignty and integrity of India, is a matter of very deep and immediate concern which requires emergency measures, the Ministry of Information and Technology said.

The government would now follow this up with instructions to the Internet Service Providers to block these applications. Very soon, the user would see a message that says that these apps have been restricted.

These restrictions would impact TikTok and UC news as they need a live feed. However users may be able to use some applications that do not need an active internet connection. However this notification would lead to both Google Play Store and Apple's App Store blocking applications such as CamScanner.

It may be recalled that the Madras High Court had last banned TikTok for a few days.

However the app was available after the ban was vacated by the High Court. However this action would have far more impact as it has been taken specifically in the context of national security. This would also have a huge impact on the Chinese businesses in India and to China as well.

TikTok is a popular app in India and has over 100 million active users. Meanwhile the desi alternative to TikTok, Chingari has announced that it has achieved a new milestone of more than 25 lakh downloads in a short time.

The downloads have gone up to 25 lakh from just 5.5 lakh in ten days. The company has claimed a 400 per cent growth. Chingari allows a user to download and upload videos along with features such as chat with friends, interact with people, share content etc. the app is available in multiple languages like English, Hindi, Bangla, Gujarati, Marathi, Kannada, Punjabi, Malayalam, Tamil, and Telugu. It can be downloaded from Google Play Store and Apple's App Store.

A Chingari user can create a WhatsApp status, videos, audio clips, GIF, stickers and photos. The app also has access to trending news, entertainment news, funny videos, song videos, wishes and memes too.