After TikTok And PUBG Mobile, Facebook Could Be The Next Big App Banned In India

Dhir Acharya - Jul 28, 2020

After the first 59 Chinese apps, the Indian government has now banned another 47 apps, including PUBG Mobile. Facebook could be next.

With the growing tension between China and India, the Indian government has issued a national ban on 59 Chinese apps, PUBG Mobile wasn’t affected at the time. However, after a series of unfortunate events related to gaming addiction in the country, many people have called for a ban on the popular title.

Despite not being in the list of 59 banned apps in the first wave, PUBG Mobile wasn't safe from banning attempts against Chinese products. In recent days, the Indian military has ordered soldiers and staff to remove 89 apps including PUBG Mobile from their smartphone with concerns over security.

This ban is separate from the previous one on the 59 Chinese apps, which were deleted from the App Store and Google Play Store in India. For now, PUBG Mobile is still available on the app stores for both Android and iOS users but it isn’t a surprise if it disappears alongside other mobile games developed by the Chinese company Tencent.

PUBG Mobile is currently the most popular game in India, receiving a lot of investments from big organizations. Not a long time ago, the Indian government listed 59 mobile apps from China, including the world-leading video-sharing app TikTok, in a national ban.

TikTok is one of the most famous social networks in India, but it has been suspected to steal user data and send it back to the Chinese government for malicious purposes. And with Facebook's long history of user data breaches and misuse, Mark Zuckerberg worries that the app might be banned in the country too. After TikTok was banned in India, Facebook has been testing Instagram Reels, a feature designed to replace the video-sharing app in the country.