Chinese apps Baidu, Weibo blocked in India, to be taken off app stores

Weibo and Baidu Search, two of China’s biggest apps that were called the alternatives to Twitter and Google Search, have been blocked in India and according to reports, will be taken off the Google Play Store and the Apple App Store.

According to a Times of India report, Internet service providers have also been told to block these two apps. An official source told TOI that Weibo and Baidu Search are among 47 new apps that the Indian government banned on July 27 and added that the government is considering a decision to ban more apps.

PM Narendra Modi had an account on Weibo but he shut it down in the face of escalating tensions between India and China.

Blocking of these 47 apps follows the government’s first decision to ban 59 apps including the very popular TikTok and other apps like the UC Browser, Helo, Likee, Shareit, WeChat, CamScanner and Mi Community. 

These 59 apps were banned on June 29 and then the government added 47 more apps to the ban list, however, this time around the list was not made public.

Most apps in this second list of 47 include clones, or lite versions, of some of the apps that were a part of the 59 banned like TikTok Lite, Shareit Lite, CamScanner HD, BioLive Lite, Likee Lite etc.

These apps have been banned for engaging in activities that are “prejudicial to the sovereignty and integrity of India, defence of India, security of state and public order”.

Reports have it that the government is also looking into 275 more Chinese apps that include the likes of PUBG Mobile and ByteDance’s Resso.