PUBG - popular gaming app among 118 other apps banned in India

PUBG MOBILE, one of the most popular multiplayer shooting video games is now banned in India. The government has banned and blocked 118 apps due to the tensions between China and India over fresh Chinese provocations in Ladakh. This move, as stated by the Indian Government in a statement, has been taken in the interest of the country's sovereignty and integrity, defence and security. The Information and Technology Ministry has stated that these 118 Apps are engaged in the activities which are prejudicial to India's defence, security and public order. Earlier in June, the Government had banned around 59 mobile applications which included TikTok, UC Browser and even WeChat. This was also done for security reasons. PUBG Mobile is one of the top 5 smartphone games and has more than 734 million downloads globally . In India itself, there are close to fifty million active PUBG players, with thirteen million daily users. The banning is a step to ensure safety, security and sovereignty of the Indian cyberspace. PUBG Mobile Lite has also been banned. The Ministry also said that several complaints had been received, regarding misuse of certain mobile apps on Android and iOS smartphones, for stealing user data to servers outside of the country. The cybercrime centre of the home ministry has also recommended the blocking of these & lsquo malicious' applications. The master server activities of these 118 apps that are banned were being tracked by the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination, IT Ministry, Ministry of Home Affairs, along with the Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (Cert-in), and only after credibe information regarding these apps misusing the data collected from Indian users, the decision to ban and make these apps inoperative in India was taken. PUBG Mobile has been banned under Section 69A of the Information and Technology Act. The other apps that have been blocked include games, online payment gateways, dating apps and photo editing apps. This move has been made one day after India has accused the Chinese troops of provocative action in the South Bank of Ladakh's Pangong Lake. India and China have had a series of clashes between them, since May 2020.