PUBG Mobile among 118 Chinese software blocked by fresh government orders
Popular gaming application PUBG Mobile is among 118 more Chinese programs that the government blocked today as the border tensions in Ladakh heat up again.
PUBG Mobile, perhaps the most played game out there, is thought to have 33 million active users in India. The news must come as a blow for the youth of the country who've been increasingly relying on gaming applications to pass time through the coronavirus-induced lockdown. First the government came for TikTok, now PUBG.
The banned software include Baidu, Baidu Express Edition, Tencent Watchlist, FaceU, WeChat Reading and Tencent Weiyun, besides PUBG Mobile and PUBG Mobile Lite, according to an official statement.
The TikTok ban have been received pretty well with many youth having been reported at the time as saying they might give it up in the interest of the security of the country.
Following the TikTok ban, several home-grown applications have been trying to seize the space but have not had the spectacular success enjoyed by the Chinese short-video social media app. Soon, it was reported that Reliance, which includes made huge strides in the tech sector through the lockdown, was in foretells buy TikTok’s Indian operations.
A statement by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology released today said the ban on PUBG Mobile and the other hundred-odd software has been imposed under Section 69A of the Information Technology Act, on grounds that “they are engaged in activities which are prejudicial to sovereignty and integrity of India, defence of India, security of state and public order”.
“This decision is a targeted proceed to ensure safety, security and sovereignty of Indian cyberspace,” the statement said.
The statement repeated the wording used when TikTok and around 50 other Chinese apps were banned, saying the federal government had received representations from several public representatives that the apps had been stealing Indian user data and violating the privacy of users.
