CHINESE APP BAN: IS THIS THE RIGHT WAY TO MODERATE?
When one talks of the year 2020, the first thing that pops up in our head is the series of events that lead to a belief that this entire year is a misfortune. From witnessing the global pandemic that started off from China and ended up victimizing the entire world population to geo-political tensions near LAC.
Whilst all the lockdown and curfew barriers, we heard of the most serious national security crisis since the Kargil War in 1999. 20 Indian soldiers and an undeclared number of Chinese troops were killed in the Galwan Valley in Ladakh during a clash between Indian and Chinese Troops. In the wake of these events, the Indian Government led by Mr. Narendra Modi banned 59 Applications of China that were used by Indian mobile users. Among these were some of the most popular applications such as TikTok, Shein, UC Browser, WeChat and ShareIt. The biggest and most obvious of them being TikTok which was one of the most downloaded apps during the lockdown. It is a substantial and effective measure but has led to polarising opinions. While a huge population of youngsters used the platform to make dance and acting videos, there was a vast amount of disturbing and unacceptable content on it as well. Most of these applications consisted of unnecessary and vulgar advertisements that most users complained of.
TikTok and various Chinese apps contribute humungous amount of revenues to the economic growth of China. TikTok, in particular, had attracted a lot of influencers from across the world and were the only source of income for many of them. This measure comes as a huge blow to influencers and social media content creators. This also marks the largest sweep against the Chinese technology companies. A major source of revenue for these companies was from India and a ban on their applications mean a cause for contention against the Indian Government. However, the government has justified that these measures have been undertaken since there is credible information that these apps are engaged in activities which are prejudicial to the sovereignty and integrity of India, defence, security of state and public order. The decision has been taken in a bid to safeguard the interests of crores of Indian mobile users. “They are engaged in activities which is prejudicial to sovereignty and integrity of India, defence of India, the security of the state and public order”, the Ministry of Information Technology said in a release on Monday.
India has for long been the victim of domination by other countries but is now emerging as one of the biggest contenders to becoming a political and military superpower. There is serious nationalist sentiment among most Indian citizens at the moment and the government has hit the hammer when iron is hot by taking this measure. For the safety, security, defence, sovereignty & integrity of India and to protect data & privacy of people of India, this seems to be the best way to retaliate on ground level. Keeping in mind the moral value of the people of this nation, this decision seems fairly a concrete step in a direction that resonates with power. Although, it remains to be seen whether this move comes across as a positive or a negative on global forums.
Amidst the pandemic, there are a lot of problems for China to deal with and If the situation remains as is, China may soon have to drop its dreams of becoming a superpower. Is this the start of a new Global Technological War with China? The answer will surely be given by world authorities in the coming months.
Till then Keep Reading and Stay Tuned for more!
~ By Sejallkhanna and Shaurya Srivastava for Young Engine