TikTok banned in India along with 58 other mostly Chinese apps amid border tensions

TikTok has been banned in India, along with 58 other mostly Chinese apps, as tensions between the two countries continue.

TikTok, which is developed by Chinese company Bytedance, allows users to share short videos which are generally set to music. It has regularly denied allegations about its relationship with the Chinese government, publishing a blog post late last year in which it said its data centres are kept outside of China and that it is not subject to Chinese data law.

The Indian government has now said that it would block the app – along with 58 others, including Alibaba's UC Browser and Tencent's WeChat, as well as games such as Clash of Kings.

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The 59 blocked apps are "prejudicial to sovereignty and integrity of India, defence of India, security of state and public order", the Ministry of Information Technology said.

It said that some of the apps had been found to be "stealing and surreptitiously transmitting users’ data in an unauthorized manner to servers which have locations outside India", though it did not explicitly reference any particular apps or specific data practices that had led to the ban.

It described such data use as "a matter of very deep and immediate concern which requires emergency measures", in an official statement that said such a ban was made possible under India's Information Technology Act.

Members of the public had also voiced concern about the way certain apps use the data they collect, the ministry claimed.

The ministry also noted that India was looking to become "a leading innovator when it comes to technological advancements and a primary market in the digital space.".

The ban comes after a deadly border conflict between the two nuclear-armed nations earlier this month in which 20 Indian soldiers have died.

The government announcement made no reference to those tensions or to the fact that most of the apps had been developed in China.

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The dance sessions have been organised to re-energise and uplift health care providers sprits during this pandemic AFP via Getty 12/50 18 June 2020 Alpha jets from the French Air Force Patrouille de France and the Royal Air Force Red Arrows perform a flypast over the statue of Charles de Gaulle on the Champs Elysees avenue in Paris to celebrate the 80th anniversary of wartime leader's appeal to the French people to resist the Nazi occupation, broadcast from London Reuters 13/50 17 June 2020 Activists from the Extinction Rebellion movement block a street outside the German Automobile industry association during a protest in Berlin AFP via Getty 14/50 16 June 2020 Barbers wearing protective suits and face masks inside a salon in Dhaka, Bangladesh Reuters 15/50 15 June 2020 Siegfried White raises his hand as he protests outside a burned Wendy's restaurant on the third day following Rayshard Brooks death. The black man was shot by police in the car park in Atlanta. The mayor ordered immediate police reforms on Monday after the fatal shooting by a white officer AFP via Getty 16/50 14 June 2020 People take part in a Black Lives Matter protest march in central Tokyo AFP via Getty 17/50 13 June 2020 Protesters raise their fists during a demonstration against police brutality and racism in Paris, France. The march was organised by supporters of Assa Traore, whose brother Adama died in police custody in 2016, in circumstances that remain unclear EPA 18/50 12 June 2020 A pro-democracy supporter shouts at riot police during an anti-national security law rally in Mongkok district in Hong Kong, China. Protesters heeded online calls to gather as the city marks the one-year anniversary of the major clashes between police and pro-democracy demonstrators over the controversial extradition bill Getty 19/50 11 June 2020 A section of the River Spree next to the Reichstag building coloured green by activists from "Extinction Rebellion" to protest the German government's coal policies in Berlin AFP via Getty 20/50 10 June 2020 A woman poses in front of a decapitated statue of Christopher Columbus at Christopher Columbus Park in Boston Massachusetts. The statue's head, damaged overnight, was recovered by the Boston Police Department, as a movement to remove statues commemorating slavers and colonisers continues to sweep across the US AFP via Getty 21/50 9 June 2020 Ivy McGregor, left, reads a resolution during the funeral for George Floyd at The Fountain of Praise church in Houston. George Floyd is being laid to rest in his hometown, the culmination of a long farewell to the 46-year-old African American whose death in custody ignited global protests against police brutality and racism AFP via Getty 22/50 8 June 2020 People raise their fist and stand on their knees as they demonstrate in Nantes, during a Black Lives Matter protest AFP via Getty 23/50 7 June 2020 A woman looks on during a protest against the killing of George Floyd in Osaka city, western Japan EPA 24/50 6 June 2020 Demonstrator raise their fists at the Lincoln Memorial during a protest against police brutality and racism in Washington, DC. Demonstrations are being held across the US following the death of George Floyd on May 25, 2020, while being arrested in Minneapolis, Minnesota AFP via Getty 25/50 5 June 2020 A handout photo made available by 2020 Planet Labs shows an aerial view of the large diesel spill in the Ambarnaya River outside Norilsk in the Arctic. Russia has managed to contain a massive diesel spill into a river in the Arctic, a spokeswoman for the emergencies ministry told AFP. Environmentalists said the oil spill, which took place last May 29, was the worst such accident ever in the Arctic region Planet Labs Inc./AFP via Getty 26/50 4 June 2020 Activists hold a candlelit remembrance outside Victoria Park in Hong Kong, after the annual vigil, that traditionally takes place in the park to mark the 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown, was banned on public health grounds because coronavirus AFP via Getty 27/50 3 June 2020 A visitor walks in Odaiba as the sun sets in Tokyo AP 28/50 2 June 2020 Activists of the Socialist Unity Centre of India shout slogans in Ahmedabad in solidarity with protests against the recent killing of George Floyd AP 29/50 1 June 2020 Activists take part in a Black Lives Matter protest in Zurich after the recent death of George Floyd EPA 30/50 31 May 2020 A black man and a white woman hold their hands up in front of police officers in downtown Long Beach during a protest against the death of George Floyd, an unarmed black man who died while being arrested and pinned to the ground by the knee of a Minneapolis police officer. Protests sweeping the United States over the death of George Floyd reverberated on the other side of the globe when thousands marched in solidarity on the streets of New Zealand AFP via Getty 31/50 30 May 2020 Police officers are seen amid tear gas as protesters continue to rally against the death in Minneapolis police custody of George Floyd, in Minneapolis, Minnesota Reuters 32/50 29 May 2020 A boy holds a sign as refugees protest outside the UNHCR offices against a government decision that they should leave their accommodation provided through European Union and UNHCR funds by the end of May, in Athens, Greece Reuters 33/50 28 May 2020 Cloud iridescence, an optical phenomenon where light is diffracted through water droplets, is pictured at the edge of some clouds before a summer thunderstorm over Bangkok AFP via Getty 34/50 27 May 2020 Riot police try to control pro-democracy supporters at a rally in Causeway Bay district, Hong Kong Getty 35/50 26 May 2020 Protesters and police face each other during a rally after a black man died in police custody hours after a bystander's video showed an officer kneeling on the handcuffed man's neck, even after he pleaded that he could not breathe and had stopped moving Star Tribune via AP 36/50 25 May 2020 The aerobatic demonstration team 'Frecce Tricolori' of the Italian Air Force flies in formation above the Milan Cathedral. Starting from 25 May, the Frecce Tricolori will perform every day in the skies throughout Italy as part of the 74th anniversary celebrations of the founding of the Italian Republic and to pay homage to the areas most affected by the coronavirus EPA 37/50 24 May 2020 Saudi Arabia's holy city of Mecca during the early hours of Eid al-Fitr, the Muslim holiday which starts at the conclusion of the holy fasting month of Ramadan AFP via Getty 38/50 23 May 2020 Tamika Eastley, left, and Anthony Ragusa work out as the sun sets over the Kangaroo Point Cliffs in Brisbane, Australia EPA 39/50 22 May 2020 Firefighters spray water on the wreckage of a Pakistan International Airlines aircraft after it crashed into a residential area in Karachi AFP via Getty 40/50 21 May 2020 Indigenous leader Kretan Kaingang wears a face mask with a hashtag that reads in Portuguese: "Get out Bolsonaro" during a protest demanding the impeachment of President Jair Bolsonaro outside the National Congress in Brasilia, Brazil, Thursday, May 21, 2020. As Brazil careens toward a full-blown public health emergency and economic meltdown, opponents have filed a request for Bolsonaro's impeachment based on his mishandling of the new coronavirus pandemic. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres) AP 41/50 20 May 2020 People wait in line to undergo the coronavirus tests while keeping distance from each other at a makeshift clinic set up on a playground in Incheon, South Korea Yonhap/AP 42/50 19 May 2020 Firefighters fighting a fire at a plastics factory in front of a huge cloud of smoke in Ladenburg, Germany dpa via AP 43/50 18 May 2020 Ugandan academic Stella Nyanzi reacts as police officers detain her for protesting against the way that government distributes the relief food and lockdown situation in Kampala Reuters 44/50 17 May 2020 A woman sits alone on a bench in a park following the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in Dublin, Ireland Reuters 45/50 16 May 2020 Crematory workers using protective gear are pictured at a crematory in Nezahualcoyotl during the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), on the outskirts of Mexico City, Mexico Reuters 46/50 15 May 2020 Healthcare workers, nurses and doctors, unified under the movement called "Take Care of Care" wearing face masks protest against the Belgian authorities' management of the coronavirus crisis, at the MontLegia CHC Hospital Reuters 47/50 14 May 2020 A girl watches over goats on the banks of the Dal Lake during rainfall in Srinagar AFP via Getty 48/50 13 May 2020 Life-size cardboard figures with photos of football fans are positioned on the stands of Borussia Moenchengladbach's football stadium for their next game, which will be played without spectators, due to the coronavirus outbreak in Germany Reuters 49/50 12 May 2020 Nurses wearing face masks take part in an event held to mark International Nurses Day, at Wuhan Tongji Hospital in China China Daily via Reuters 50/50 11 May 2020 Iraqi protesters gather on the Al-Jumhuriyah bridge in the capital Baghdad during an anti-government demonstration. Modest anti-government rallies resumed in some Iraqi cities Sunday, clashing with security forces and ending months of relative calm just days after Prime Minister Mustafa Kadhemi's government came to power. The protests first erupted in Baghdad and Shiite-majority southern cities in October, demanding an end to corruption and unemployment and an overhaul of the ruling class AFP via Getty

The statement gave no indication of how such a block would be put in place. Recent attempts by governments to completely ban certain apps – such as Russia's sanctions on Telegram – have seen users largely able to get around the bans, while at the same time causing disruption to the underlying infrastructure of the internet.

The full list of 59 apps can be found on the official government website.

Last year, TikTok was briefly banned in India over concerns that it was being used to distribute pornography. The ban was lifted weeks later and TikTok has since been publicly available until now.

When the ban was lifted, TikTok celebrated by launching a campaign called #ReturnofTikTok and posted a blog post claiming that in India it had "over 200 million users and counting".

Earlier this month, Google banned an app called "Remove China Apps" from its online store. The tool – which scanned the phone for any apps developed in China, including TikTok, and deleted them – has been reported to have been downloaded more than five million times in the short period it was available.

The movement to delete Chinese apps amid the ongoing tensions between the two countries had been supported by citizens on social media, as well as a spokesperson for Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ruling party.