In the wake of India's deepening mistrust of all things China amid a
bitter border feud, Modi govt yesterday executed a ban on 59 Chinese apps
in a dramatic move that may have been in the making for some time.
Top social media platforms such as TikTok, Helo and WeChat came under the
ambit of the ban, giving a serious jolt to China's dream of setting up a
Digital Silk Route.
Even as the sudden ban left TikTok's Indian fans high and dry, there was
palpable relief among the users of PUBG — the highly-addictive, world-famous game that has held millions in
India in thrall since its inception.
This relief, however, is not wholly unmixed as there remains the prospect
of the ban being expanded to cover more apps in a possible next round. A
lot of questions are being raised in various online forums as to
why PUBG escaped the government's wrath while TikTok could not. Here we try
to find out the possible reasons.
No overwhelming China footprint
The online battle royale game was developed by an arm of South Korean
video game maker Bluehole — the now famous PUBG Corp. It was only after
the game swept the world off its feet that Chinese giant Tencent Holdings
came into the picture as its distributor.
After the product conquered the Chinese market in no time, Tencent
brought it to India. And the rest is history.
But despite an undeniable Chinese footprint in PUBG's marketing, the
product still retains its mixed-owner character. According to some
insiders, its Korean origin is what may have saved PUBG in Round 1 of Modi
government's China purge.
It could mean that China making investments in, or manufacturing, a
product is probably not being regarded as a basis for banning by
India.
Will Round 2 be different? There is no certainty yet. For now, life goes
on as usual for PUBG's India legion.
No imminent danger?
"Red flags from the intel" was the logic the govt gave when it announced
the decision.
The ban was put in place under Section 69A of the IT Act read with
relevant provisions of the IT (Procedure and Safeguards for Blocking of
Access of Information by Public) Rules 2009.
The reasoning given by the govt was that these 59 apps are "engaged in
activities prejudicial to sovereignty and integrity of India, defence of
India, security of state and public order." The order also talked of
plaints about data on Indian users being transferred abroad without
authorization.
Insiders believe that PUBG also must have been put through the security
scanner by the sleuths, but that it must have passed the test for the time
being. Some also say that data theft is the one and only basis for the
ban, and that is why the notification was from the IT ministry, and not
from the ministry of trade.
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