According to sources, developers of many of
the 59 banned apps had taken down their apps from Google Play Store
voluntarily.
The 59 Chinese apps banned by the government have been
taken down from Google Play Store and Apple App Store in India, blocking their
access to mobile phone users in the country.
The government had on Monday banned 59 Chinese applications
saying they were prejudicial to sovereignty, integrity and security of the
country.
A
day later popular short video app TikTok was taken down from Google Play Store
and Apple App Store. The other 58 Chinese apps have now also been removed.
Google said that it has temporarily blocked access to the
banned apps on its India Play Store.
"While we continue to review the interim orders from
the Government of India, we have notified the affected developers and have
temporarily blocked access to the apps that remained available on the Play
Store in India," a Google spokesperson said.
However, the spokesperson
did not disclose details of the apps that Google had blocked.
Similar action has been
taken by the Apple App Store, sources said.
Chinese apps removed from
Play Store and App Store include UC Browser, SHAREit, WeChat, CamScanner, and
Mi Community.
TikTok app has gone offline
and stopped working completely for users in India.
Meanwhile, TikTok
spokesperson said the firm does not plan to take legal action against the
government ban.
"We have no plans to
pursue such action.
“We are committed to
working with the government to address its concerns.
“We comply with the laws
and regulations of the Government of India.
“Ensuring the data
sovereignty, security and privacy of our users has always been and will
continue to be a top priority for us," the spokesperson said.
According to sources,
developers of many of the 59 banned apps had taken down their apps from Google
Play Store voluntarily.
Meanwhile, in a statement,
one of the banned apps Bigo Live said it has temporarily taken off the app from
Google Play and App Store in India.
"The Government of
India issued an interim order on June 29, 2020, to block 59 mobile apps,
including Bigo Live.
“We respect the Indian
government's order and will temporarily take off Bigo Live from Google Play and
App Store in India until there is further clarity provided on this
matter," it said.
According to the statement,
Bigo Live is under Singapore-based Bigo Technology.
"We hold utmost
priority to the compliance of all local laws as well as the privacy and
security of all our users.
“We will be working closely
with the Indian government under the local legal framework."
In a separate statement,
Likee said it has temporarily taken off the platform from Google Play and Apple
App store and has suspended its services in India.
"We respect the Indian
government's order and have temporarily taken off Likee from Google Play and
App Store, and have suspended service in India until there is further clarity
provided on this matter," the company said.
To follow the government
order, Likee said its R&D team worked around the clock to ensure the
service shutdown.
"Likee is under the
Singapore-based BIGO Technology and we hold utmost priority to the compliance
of all local laws as well as the privacy and data security of all our users.
“We will be working closely
with the Indian government under the local legal framework," it added.
Soon after the ban, TikTok
stopped showing up in search results on the Google Play Store and Apple App
Store.
Some users searching for
TikTok on Google Play ended up seeing some clone apps.
The Apple App Store showed
'helper apps' like VideoSplit for TikTok, but not the TikTok app itself.
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