It appears like there have been rumors floating around on the Internet suggesting that India’s National Informatics Centre (NIC) has banned the use of a few Chinese apps in the country. The Indian Press Information Bureau’s Twitter account has debunked and rejected the claims.
“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,” reads the tweet.
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
The rumored list of banned apps includes popular Chinese apps such as LiveMe, Bigo Live, Vigo Video, Beauty Plus, CamScanner, Clash of Kings, Mobile Legends, TikTok, Club Factory, Shein, Romwe, AppLock, Vmate, and Game of Sultans.
The message claims that the government has asked Apple and Google to remove these apps from their respective stores. The rumor also says these apps could “compromise the sovereignty of the country.” However, that’s not at all true.
The rumor comes at a time when the Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In) has warned of a massive phishing attack promising COVID-19 aid and free testing.
People apparently shared the low-effort edit with misalignments through multiple social media platforms, which could’ve made unsuspecting users uninstall them. That said, if you are indeed looking for alternate options to Chinese apps, our article here could help you make the switch in a jiffy.
Such rumors don’t really come as a huge surprise considering the anti-China sentiment prevalent across the country after the Galwan Valley face-off between India and China. In fact, the situation has seen the rise of a few niche apps in the country such as TikTok clone Mitron, Remove China Apps (taken down from app store), and Made in India (an app that lets you scan bar codes to know where a product originated from).
