Ban on TikTok and other Chinese Apps – legal basis and consequences

The Government of India, on 29 June 2020, has banned 59 Chinese apps (including TikTok, UC Browser, WeChat, Shareit, etc. – full list is given at the end of this article) on Android and iOS platforms. These apps have been banned on the ground that they are engaged in activities which are prejudicial to sovereignty and integrity of India, defence of India, security of state and public order.

It is noteworthy that this ban has been imposed under Section 69-A of the Information Technology Act, 2000. Under this section, the Government has the power to direct any agency of the Government or intermediary (such as Internet Service Providers) to block for access by the public any information generated, transmitted, received, stored or hosted in any computer resource. Such direction can be issued when the Government is satisfied that it is necessary to do so, in the interest of sovereignty and integrity of India, defence of India, security of the State, friendly relations with foreign States or public order or for preventing incitement to the commission of any cognizable offence.

Detailed Rules have been framed to implement the provisions of Section 69-A, which are called the Information Technology (Procedure and Safeguards for Blocking for Access of Information by Public) Rules, 2009. These Rules also allow the Government to issue such ban orders immediately even without following detailed procedure in an emergency.

It is pertinent to point out that Section 69-A of the IT Act, as well as the Rules made under it, have been held to be constitutionally valid by Supreme Court in the case of Shreya Singhal v. Union of India, (2015) 5 SCC 1.

In a press release issued by the Government of India, it has been mentioned that:

“…there have been raging concerns on aspects relating to data security and safeguarding the privacy of 130 crore Indians. It has been noted recently that such concerns also pose a threat to sovereignty and security of our country. The Ministry of Information Technology has received many complaints from various sources including several reports about misuse of some mobile apps available on Android and iOS platforms for stealing and surreptitiously transmitting users’ data in an unauthorized manner to servers which have locations outside India. The compilation of these data, its mining and profiling by elements hostile to national security and defence of India, which ultimately impinges upon the sovereignty and integrity of India, is a matter of very deep and immediate concern which requires emergency measures.”

So, the order to ban these Chinese apps has been issued under appropriate legal powers available to the Government under the IT Act. There is nothing illegal about it, more so, keeping in view the current anti-India activities of China at the border (LAC), these apps can cause serious threat to Indian security.

Next question that arises is the manner in which this ban will be implemented. It is likely that the order to ban these apps will be issued to the Internet Service Providers (ISPs) and other intermediaries to block access to the data of these apps. In addition, Google Play Store and Apple’s App Store may also be directed to remove listing of these apps for the Indian users.

Therefore, some of these apps, such as TikTok, which depend heavily on Internet data, will not be able to stream data (videos) to the app users in India, as they may be blocked at the ISP level. And, when an Indian user tries to visit such apps, he would get a notification that access to that website or resource has been blocked as per orders of the Government of India.

Some apps which do not depend on the Internet data use, such as CamScanner and ES File Explorer, may still work on the smartphones of existing users. But, new users will not be able to install them if they cannot download them from Google Play Store and Apple App Store. It may perhaps still be possible for some expert users to download these apps from other proxy websites or using anonymous VPN (virtual private network), etc. But, most users will not be able to access them.

And, in any case, as mentioned earlier, some of the most popular apps that depend on Internet data (such as new video downloads), such as TikTok, will become mostly useless after this ban.

It may be relevant to point out that as per Section 69-A of the IT Act, an intermediary who fails to comply with these directions to ban these apps, may be punished with an imprisonment for up to 7 years and may also be liable to fine.

Moreover, under Section 76 of the IT Act, any computer, computer system, etc., in respect of which this ban order is being contravened, shall be liable to confiscation.

Therefore, the ISPs cannot afford to not implement these directions.

List of the 59 apps which have been banned is as under:

1. TikTok
2. Shareit
3. Kwai
4. UC Browser
5. Baidu map
6. Shein
7. Clash of Kings
8. DU battery saver
9. Helo
10. Likee
11. YouCam makeup
12. Mi Community
13. CM Browers
14. Virus Cleaner
15. APUS Browser
16. ROMWE
17. Club Factory
18. Newsdog
19. Beutry Plus
20. WeChat
21. UC News
22. QQ Mail
23. Weibo
24. Xender
25. QQ Music
26. QQ Newsfeed
27. Bigo Live
28. SelfieCity
29. Mail Master
30. Parallel Space
31. Mi Video Call – Xiaomi
32. WeSync
33. ES File Explorer
34. Viva Video – QU Video Inc
35. Meitu
36. Vigo Video
37. New Video Status
38. DU Recorder
39. Vault- Hide
40. Cache Cleaner DU App studio
41. DU Cleaner
42. DU Browser
43. Hago Play With New Friends
44. Cam Scanner
45. Clean Master – Cheetah Mobile
46. Wonder Camera
47. Photo Wonder
48. QQ Player
49. We Meet
50. Sweet Selfie
51. Baidu Translate
52. Vmate
53. QQ International
54. QQ Security Center
55. QQ Launcher
56. U Video
57. V fly Status Video
58. Mobile Legends
59. DU Privacy