India’s Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology has banned TikTok, WeChat, and several dozen other China-based apps

India’s Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology has banned TikTok, WeChat, and several dozen other China-based apps it views as “engaged in activities ... prejudicial to sovereignty and integrity of India,” according to a press release.

 A total of 59 apps are on the banned list. India is a huge market for TikTok, which is owned by Chinese company ByteDance. According to SensorTower data from April, 30 percent of TikTok’s 2 billion downloads came from India. Messaging app WeChat, owned by Chinese internet company Tencent, has more than 1 billion users worldwide.

A closer look at the 59 apps shows that the common thread is their Chinese-origin, but otherwise it is a very diverse set. Aside from TikTok, which is probably the best known app in the list, it includes Shein, an online apparel retailer, Shareit and ES File Explorer, which are used to transfer and manage les, Helo and Likee, which are social networks very similar to TikTok, news aggregator Newsdog, popular browser UC Browser, and strategy game Clash of Kings. 

Many companies on this list were among those which had donated to the PM Cares fund, as highlighted by Congress leaders on Sunday. TikTok had given Rs. 30 crores to the fund, while Xiaomi, which has two apps on the banned list, donated Rs. 10 crores The current ban is likely related to the conict between India and China and it's therefore less clear if it will be as easy to resolve as in the past.

 Anti-China sentiment has seen the Make in India manufacturing units of companies like Oppo get defaced, and the brand had to reconsider holding a live launch event for one of its latest phones in the country. All one can say for certain is that the current ban comes as a big opportunity to apps that are made in India, from Mitron to Chingari. 

The entire list of 59 apps was included as an Annexure and it includes everything from chat apps, to tools such as ES File Explorer, to games. It's hard to understand why these specif apps were chosen.

 The full list of banned apps is as follows.

1. TikTok

2. Shareit

3. Kwai

4. UC Browser

5. Baidu map

6. Shein

 7. Clash of Kings

 8. DU battery saver

9. Helo

10. Likee

11. YouCam makeup

12. Mi Community

 13. CM Browers

14. Virus Cleaner

15. APUS Browser

16. ROMWE

 17. Club Factory

18. Newsdog

 19. Beutry Plus

 20. WeChat

21. UC News

 22. QQ Mail

 23. Weibo

24. Xender

25. QQ Music

 26. QQ Newsfeed

 27. Bigo Live

 28. SeleCity

29. Mail Master

 30. Parallel Space

31. Mi Video Call — Xiaomi

 32. WeSync

 33. ES File Explorer

34. Viva Video — QU Video Inc

35. Meitu

 36. Vigo Video

37. New Video Status

 38. DU Recorder

 39. Vault- Hide

40. Cache Cleaner DU App studio

 41. DU Cleaner

 42. DU Browser

 43. Hago Play With New

44. Cam Scanner

 45. Clean Master — Cheetah Mobile

 46. Wonder Camera

47. Photo Wonder

48. QQ Player

49. We

50. Sweet Sele

51. Baidu Translate

52. Vmate

53. QQ International

54. QQ Security Center

55. QQ Launcher

56. U Video

57. V y Status Video

58. Mobile Legends

 59. DU Privacy