India's Ministry of electronics and information technology has issued fresh notices to make permanent a ban imposed on video application TikTok and 58 other Chinese apps in June, Indian media reported late on Monday.

When it first imposed the ban, the Indian government gave the 59 applications a chance to explain their position on compliance with privacy and security requirements, the Times of India reported on Monday.

The companies, which include ByteDance's popular video-sharing app TikTok, Tencent Holdings' WeChat and Alibaba's UC Browser, were also asked to respond to a list of questions, the newspaper said.

"The government is not satisfied with the response/explanation given by these companies. Hence, the ban for these 59 applications is permanent now," business newspaper Live mint quoted a source familiar with the notices as saying. It said the notices were issued last week.

The ministry's June order stated that the apps were "prejudicial to sovereignty and integrity of India, defense of India, the security of state and public order."

The order, which India referred to as a "digital strike", followed a skirmish with Chinese troops at a disputed Himalayan border site when 20 Indian soldiers were killed.

This does not bode well for the other application which was banned over the course of 2020 — over 200 by the end of the year. Some, such as the hugely popular smartphone game PUBG Mobile had attempted to remedy the situation by launching a new, India-only version, PUBG Mobile India which was announced in November, after hiring new staff in India. 

In September, India banned another 118 mobile applications, including Tencent's popular video game PUBG, as it stepped up the pressure on Chinese technology companies following the standoff at the border.

A TikTok representative told the Economic Times newspaper that the company was evaluating the notice and will respond to it as appropriate.



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