The Indian Government has Banned more than 50+ Apps, including Garena Free Fire Game

India Banned 50+ Apps: The Indian government has issued a new wave of app bans throughout the country. After banning nearly 200 Chinese applications in India two years ago, the country has now banned 54 more, claiming security and privacy concerns. The popular app Garena Free Fire, Beauty Camera: Sweet Selfie, and others are among the prohibited applications. Take a peek at the list below.

List of 54 Apps that will be Banned in India in 2022

India Govt Banned 50+ Apps: The new app restriction is enacted under Section 69A of the Information Technology Act of 2000. According to the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), the applications have been prohibited in India because they purportedly transport users’ data to nations such as China, resulting in a breach of privacy.

The 54 Chinese apps include Beauty Camera: Sweet Selfie HD, Beauty Camera – Selfie Camera, Equalizer & Bass Booster, CamCard for SalesForce Ent, Isoland 2: Ashes of Time Lite, Viva Video Editor, Tencent Xriver, Onmyoji Chess, Onmyoji Arena, AppLock, Dual Space Lite.

— ANI (@ANI) February 14, 2022

According to the IT ministry (via HT), “These collected real-time data are being misused and transmitted to servers located in a hostile country. This will enable them to compile huge personal data to mine, collate, analyze and profile by the elements who are hostile to the sovereignty and integrity of India and for activities detrimental to national security.“

This list verifies the removal of Garena Free Fire from the Google Play Store and the App Store for unclear reasons.

Beauty Camera – Selfie Camera, Equalizer & Bass Booster, CamCard for SalesForce Ent, Isoland 2: Ashes of Time Lite, Viva Video Editor, Tencent Xriver, Onmyoji Chess, Onmyoji Arena, AppLock, Dual Space Lite, and more apps are included in this list. Here’s a rundown of the entire list.

To recap, this is the seventh time the Indian government has prohibited applications. In 2020, the government banned 59 applications, followed by bans on 47 apps, 118 apps, and 43 more apps in the same year. Popular games on this list include TikTok, PUBG, UC Browser, Shein, and others. Following this, a number of these popular applications’ substitutes sprang to prominence. Krafton even released an Indian version of PUBG known as Battlegrounds Mobile India.

A lot of the aforementioned apps that were banned today are available on the Google Play Store. It remains to be seen whether Google removes them from its app store.