India wants to block 257 apps and software from China

From the "Player Unknown's Battleground" video game to Aliexpress ecommerce, here's who ended up in the sights of the New Delhi government

A protester in New Delhi shows a sign calling for a boycott of applications of Chinese origin (Photo by Vipin Kumar / Hindustan Times via Getty Images) In India it was not enough to ban the use of TikTok, WeChat and 57 other applications of Chinese origin. Now the country's government is considering whether to extend the ban to an additional 275 applications made in China. Among the 257 titles are also the popular video game Player Unknown's Battleground (Pubg) by the giant Tencent, the streaming music app Resso by ByteDance and Aliexpress, the ecommerce application by the Chinese giant Alibaba.

According to as reported by the Economic Times, New Delhi government officials would have compiled a list of 275 programs and applications that, in their view, would violate the security and privacy standards of Indian users. The frictions between the Beijing and Indian governments therefore continue to jeopardize the business of the Dragon technology companies in the subcontinent. India, following military clashes on the Himalayan border with China, has banned the use of TikTok and other Chinese applications throughout its territory, accused of being a tool used to spy on Indian citizens.

If the ban on these 275 applications becomes a reality, India would find itself with an immense share of the private population of applications and programs for daily use. Over 300 million Indian citizens routinely use the applications contained in the new list. This means that this new ban could affect up to two thirds of the population. Pubg alone has over 50 million gamers in India.

According to ET, the government in New Delhi wants to create a package of laws that would ban all of the applications and programs that represent a threat to the national security, door to the law on the protection of personal data is still under discussion. In fact, at the moment, India does not have a formal process to identify which app is violating is actually the privacy of the users.