Govt warns Telcos of legal action if banned Chinese apps aren’t blocked

India has ordered telecom companies and other internet providers to stop access to 59 banned Chinese-origin apps, according to notices seen by Reuters, intensifying efforts to crack down on such businesses following a border clash between the nations.

The Department of Telecommunications (DOT) said internet operators should “immediately block” access to such apps and their websites, warning of legal action if they fail to do so, according to notices issued late on Tuesday.

The department’s order came after India’s government this week banned several Chinese apps including ByteDance’s TikTok, Alibaba’s UC News and Tencent’s WeChat citing “threat to sovereignty and integrity”, a move seen as India’s push back against Chinese firms following a border clash with the neighbour.

The websites of some of the banned apps — such as Alibaba’s UC News — were no longer accessible from some internet networks in India. While Bytedance moved to block TikTok in India soon after the government’s announcement, several other banned apps were still available for download.

The Indian government has separately reached out to Google and Apple formally and asked them to remove the apps from their app stores so that new downloads can be restricted, two sources told Reuters.-Huffington Post