Garena’s Free Fire was the most profitable app on Google Play Store and Apple’s app store for the year 2021. The Ministry of Home Affairs recommended a ban on it and 53 other apps. Read for more details.
A ban on 54 Chinese mobile applications including the popular multiplayer game Garena Free Fire has been ordered by the Ministry of Home Affairs. It is interesting to note that Garena, the developer of the game is not from China but rather from Singapore. Last year, it was one of the most downloaded games in India, and it had filled the void created by PUBG Mobile’s ban in September 2020. As of today, the software has already been withdrawn from the Google Play Store and Apple App Store in India.
The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), according to PTI, will issue a notification prohibiting the use of these “Chinese” apps in India. Earlier in 2020, the government had also banned some Chinese applications such as TikTok and other famous short video apps. TikTok was banned on June 29, 2020, and with it around 60 more apps such as Shareit, Shein, Xiaomi Mi Community, Clash of Kings, etc. were taken off app stores in India.
Sources within MeitY have said that these apps were reportedly gathering sensitive user information that was being mishandled and sent to servers outside of India. Citing these reasons, MeitY has continued to ban Chinese apps under Section 69A of the Information Technology Act which states that the government has the “Power to issue directions for interception or monitoring or decryption of any information through any computer resource.” Sources also said that the apps posed threat to the national security and sovereignty of the country.
As border conflict incidences have risen along the Sino-Indian border from mid-2020, the MeitY has banned over 300 apps originating from China. This development has come as a shock to Singaporean developer Garena who had been exploring avenues to further promote the game among the Indian population which is the fastest-growing userbase in the world.
Google officials released statements mentioning that they were complying with the orders of MeitY passed under Section 69A of the IT Act. The government has never mentioned China in any of its statements regarding this matter but the developer locations are indicative of the fact that MeitY has specifically banned Chinese apps.
India is the largest market around the globe if we are looking at a number of app installs. Tech giants from not only China but the USA and South Korea have also focused on the Indian youth as their primary market while looking for growth opportunities. In comparison, very few Indian firms operate out of China.
With the increasing number of border skirmishes between India and China, the tussle between the two countries has carried over to the digital world. This development has prompted the MeitY to ban 54 more apps of Chinese origin along with the previously prohibited apps.
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