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NEED AND IMPACT NEED ON THE BAN OF CHINESE APPLICATIONS
20 Indian soldiers were martyred due to the tension in Galwan Valley, near Ladakh. To take an opposite action against the Chinese government, the Indian government had decided to ban 59 Chinese apps, including the most used Tik Tok, UC Browser, We Chat, Helo, etc, as the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) had explained that the national security and sovereignty were at stake. The government had also mentioned that those 59 applications including Tik Tok, were engaged in activities, which were “prejudicial to sovereignty and integrity of India, security of the state and public order.” The ban on these Chinese applications was imposed under Section 69A of the Information Technology Act, 2000. The Section mentions the power to issue directions for blocking public access of any information through any computer resource. The above Section is also read with relevant provisions of the Information Technology (Procedure and Safeguards for Blocking of Access of Information by Public) Rules, 2009. Many users had argued that much relevant information like name, location, e-mail id, was getting transferred to overseas areas without granting permission of the users. Top officials have said that the government had taken all the necessary aspects, before banning the mobile applications.
The Chinese applications were considered to be malicious too. But, a query arises whether it will hamper the trade relationship between the two countries. One point must be noted that China has much better military strength than that of India’s, though the latter country spends as high $71.1 billion, where its spending had grown by 6.8% in 2019, as per SIPRO report on “Trends in World Military Expenditure, 2019”. Alongside, India had a huge trade deficit, somewhere near $50 billion with China. The Ministry of Home Affairs mentions that, even though the applications are still available on phones, but the users will not have any access to them. It has been performed to operationalize the geo-block.
IMPACT ON TRADE:
The government was bound to take the necessary step because of the tussle that had occurred at the Galwan Valley, near Ladakh, with the Chinese troops. There is a huge difference in military strength between India’s and China’s, where India has about a $5 billion trade deficit with China. Due to the ban in trade, it has been found out that, India will have to face a major impact on trade, whereas it will not be faced by China. An example will help to get the point more clear. India accounts for 0.03% of Tik Tok users. So, if ByteDance (the parent company of Tik Tok) loses 0.03% of users, it will not hamper them. According to a report, published by Brookings India, it mentions that India had a huge influx of Chinese capital, especially in technology and pharmaceutical industries, and this as it we discount the investments from China routed third-party countries, like Singapore.
USER BASE IN INDIA:
As reported by Sensor Tower, they had mentioned that Tik Tok had seen about 611 million downloads in India over the application’s lifetime. The highest number of active udders was pegged at 200 million. According to media reports, a file-sharing tool, SHAREIt had about 400 million users. Stay counter had counted that UC Browser, a browsing application, owned by Alibaba, stands second in the market at 10.19% after Google Chrome, which has a user base of 78.2%.
HOW THE USERS ARE AFFECTED AFTER THE BAN:
Even though the applications might remain installed on the handsets, but the latest version of Google Play Store and Apple’s App Store will not provide any updates, shortly. But, if it is found that there is data leakage, then the users will have no access to those installed applications.
ALTERNATIVES OVER THOSE APPLICATIONS:
Soon after the ban of the Chinese applications, an Indian company Chingari, a competitor of Tik Tok has experienced a rise in the number of downloads from one lakh to over one crore, only on Google Play Store! Most used application for PDF documents; CamScanner has found other alternatives like Adobe Scan, or Microsoft Office Lens. Another alternative product such as India made Zoho Doc Scanner, which offers its users the option to import all files on masse from CamScanner.
EFFECTS ON THE BAN OF CHINESE APPS:
Due to the ban of Chinese applications, there has been a loss in the advertising revenue of the application makers. It was recorded that the parent company of Tik Tok, ByteDance Ltd. had recorded a profit of $3 billion and global revenue of $17 billion in the year 2019.
It was recorded that, from India, the company could earn only $5.8 million, as per March 2019. Even though, a point must be noted that last year, the application had been blocked as it was supporting pornography. But the company had mentioned in a local court that, they were losing roughly $15 million, every month, according to Reuters. due to this, the court had asked the company to resume the application again.
CHINA’S RESPONSE TO THE BAN:
Due to the ban of 59 mobile applications, including Tik Tok, China had thought that India was violating the rules enshrined in the World Trade Organisation (WTO). In a statement, the Chinese embassy in New Delhi had said that the ban was selectively and was discriminatory too. The country bans the applications on ambiguous and far stretched grounds. The embassy had also mentioned that it goes against the general trend of international trade and e-commerce, and is not conducive to consumer interests and the market competition in India.
WILL THE MOVE HURT INDIA:
If we talk about employment and investments, then we can say that it has hurt. Alongside, the parent company of Tik Tok, ByteDance had promised to invest $1 billion in India, which has now remained suspended, until further notice.
LEGAL OPTIONS AVAILABLE TO THE GOVERNMENT:
If we look at Section 69A of the Information Technology Act, 2000 then we will find out that the Act gives an issue to ban, which re of two types- normal and emergency. For the ban of 59 applications, including Tik Tok, is based on the use of the phrase “interim order” in the statement issued by Tik Tok, it appears that the government may have adopted the emergency route. The emergency route allows content to be blocked on the directions of the Secretary, Department of Information Technology, who must consider the impugned content and record his reasons for doing so. In the normal course, an order to block content requires-
(a) a Decision to be made by the government committee (b) Relevant intermediaries to be allowed by this committee.
Though, one must remember that these provisions are not required when the country brings up an emergency. Hoan wever, in the case of emergencies, the order of the Secretary, Department of Information Technology, must be placed before the government committee within 48 hours. Based on the recommendations of this committee, the order can then be finalized or can be vacated.
IS IT NECESSARY FOR THE GOVERNMENT TO PUBLISH THE ORDER:
One must note that Rule 16 of the Blocking rule requires strict confidentiality to be maintained regarding requests, complaints received, and actions are taken. Alongside, as accepted by the Supreme Court of India in the Anuradha Bhasin case, (in the context of Internet Suspensions ordered under Section 144 of the Criminal Procedure), publishing such orders is the only way in which the reasons and the rationale for the decision can be judged. Challenging the decision-making process requires the reasoning to be made public, as said by Mr. Rishab Bailey a technology researcher with the National Institute of Public Finance and Policy.
CAN THE ORDER BE CHALLENGED IN THE COURT?
The courts will decide whether the government has provided sufficient explanation as to the nexus between what these applications are alleged to be doing and the reasons adduced by the government such as protection of national security and strategic interests. The courts will also consider whether the ban is a proportionate and necessary step to be taken, as per the facts provided.
