NEW DELHI — India announced a ban on more than 50 Chinese mobile applications, including the wildly popular video platform TikTok, in the wake of a deadly clash between the two nuclear-armed neighbors.
The government has received complaints that such applications were “stealing and surreptitiously transmitting users’ data” to servers outside the country, an activity that “ultimately impinges on the sovereignty and security of India,” the statement said
Monday’s move appeared to be a consequence of the worst conflict between the two nations in more than 50 years.
Earlier this month, troops from the two countries engaged in a fatal brawl near their disputed border that resulted in the deaths of 20 Indian soldiers and an unknown number of Chinese casualties.
The situation along the contested frontier high in the Himalayas remains tense, with troop buildups on both sides. India has accused China of intruding into territory it claims, while China has blamed India for provoking the clash.
After the conflict, there have been calls in India to boycott Chinese products and shun Chinese mobile applications, including TikTok, which counts millions of users across India. One developer even created an app purely to remove Chinese apps from mobile phones.
ByteDance, the company that owns TikTok, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Other apps banned by the Indian government include the social media platform WeChat and a video calling app from Chinese mobile phone company Xiaomi.