Published 11:03 IST, June 21st 2020
Fact check: Has Modi government ordered Google & Apple to remove 15 Chinese apps?
Fact check: An order by the NIC & the Ministry of Electronics & IT has been doing the rounds asking Google & Apple to prohibit 15 Chinese apps from their stores
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An order from the National Informatics Centre (NIC) has been doing the rounds over social media which claims that the Government of India has written to Google and Apple asking them to prohibit a list of 15 Chinese apps from their respective stores. The order which is allegedly issued by the Ministry of Electronics & IT is addressed to Google and Apple's regional executives asking them to remove select Chinese apps from their stores 'with immediate effect'. The 15 apps stated in the list are--LiveMe, Bigo Live, Vigo Video, BeautyPlus, CamScanner, Clash of Kings, Mobile Legends, TikTok, ClubFactory, Shein, Romwe, AppLock, Club Factory, VMate, and Game of Sultans.
Here is the truth
According to the Government, no such order has been issued by the Ministry of Electronics & IT to Google and Apple. The order which is touted to be issued by the National Informatics Centre (NIC) is fake and the government has clarified that no such request was made to Google or Apple either by the NIC or the Ministry of Electronics & IT. The message is said to be a product of the growing anti-China sentiments in the country especially after the Galwan valley face-off on June 16.
The Press Information Bureau (PIB) of India's official fact-checking wing has also rubbished the claims made by the order calling it 'fake' and assuring that no such order asking for a prohibition of Chinese apps has been issued by the government.
Claim: A viral message of an order allegedly from NIC claims that @GoI_Meity has prohibited some apps from being made available on App Stores. #PIBFactCheck: The Order is #Fake. No such instruction has been given by @GoI_MeitY or NIC. pic.twitter.com/Dt7rMR7nIz
— PIB Fact Check (@PIBFactCheck) June 19, 2020
Given this, however, intelligence agencies have flagged a list of 53 apps that may have a data-risk pertaining to China. Here's the list:
Zoom, Bigo Live, Weibo, WeChat, SHAREit, UC News, UC Browser, BeautyPlus, Xender, ClubFactory, Helo, Shareit, TikTok, LIKE, Kwai, Vigo Video, ROMWE, SHEIN, NewsDog, VivaVideo- QU Video Inc, Parallel Space, APUS Browser, Perfect Corp, Virus Cleaner (Hi Security Lab), CM Browser, Mi Community, DU recorder, Vault-Hide, YouCam Makeup, Mi Store, CacheClear DU apps studio, DU Battery Saver, DU Cleaner, DU Privacy, 360 Security, DU Browser, Clean Master – Cheetah Mobile, Baidu Translate, Baidu Map, Wonder Camera, ES File Explorer, Photo Wonder, QQ International, QQ Music, QQ Mail, QQ Player, QQ NewsFeed, WeSync, QQ Security Centre, SelfieCity, Mail Master, Mi Video call-Xiaomi, Clash of Kings, Beauty Plus, Kwai, and QQ Launcher.
11:03 IST, June 21st 2020