US hints at banning TikTok, other Chinese apps

US hints at banning TikTok, other Chinese apps

Washington: Days after India banned 59 Chinese mobile apps over security concerns, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said that Washington was looking at banning Chinese social media apps, including TikTok.

“We’re taking this very seriously,” Pompeo said in an interview to Fox News.

“With respect to Chinese apps on people’s cell phones, I can assure you the US will get this one right too… I don’t want to get out in front of the President (Donald Trump), but it’s something we’re looking at,” he said in the interview.

It maybe recalled that Pompeo had welcomed India’s move to ban Chinese mobile apps.

“We welcome India’s ban on certain mobile apps that serves as an appendage of the CCP’s (Chinese Communist Party) surveillance state. India’s clean app approach will boost India’s sovereignty. It will also boost India’s integrity and national security,” Pompeo had told reporters at a news conference.

Google temporarily blocks access to banned apps in India

Google temporarily blocks access to banned apps in India

New Delhi: Google on Thursday, July 2 said it has temporarily blocked access to those apps that were still available on the Play Store in India even after the government banned on 59 apps this week.

“While we continue to review the interim orders from the Government of India, we have notified the affected developers and have temporarily blocked access to the apps that remained available on the Play Store in India,” a Google spokesperson said.

However, the spokesperson did not disclose details of the apps that Google had blocked.

According to sources, developers of many of the 59 banned apps had taken down their apps from Google Play Store voluntarily.

India on Monday banned 59 apps with Chinese links, including TikTok, UC Browser, SHAREit, and WeChat, saying they were prejudicial to sovereignty, integrity, and security of the country.

Aarogya Setu remains among top 10 downloaded apps globally in May: NITI Aayog CEO

Aarogya Setu remains among top 10 downloaded apps globally in May: NITI Aayog CEO

New Delhi: Aarogya Setu, a government app developed for tracking COVID-19 patients, retained its position as one of the top 10 downloaded mobile apps in the world in May, NITI Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant said on Saturday, June 6.

The Centre has made the app mandatory for government employees to bolster efforts to fight the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Aarogya Setu one of the top 10 downloaded mobile apps globally since launch, the second month in running. India has led the way in effectively leveraging technology to combat the COVID-19 pandemic,” Kant said in a tweet.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his address to the nation on April 14 appealed to people to download the app, which alerts people if any known person or person in their vicinity has tested positive.

The app was developed under a committee set up by the Prime Minister’s Office with the active involvement of NITI Aayog and the Ministry of Electronics and IT.