- Indian government today banned 59 Chinese apps including the very popular video sharing app TikTok.
- As the news of the ban came in, TikTok’s rival made in India app, Chingari, started getting massive hits – 100,000 downloads per hour— according to a tweet put out by the founder.
- Chingari’s name on the Google Play store also carries the tag ‘original Indian short video app’.
The founders took to Twitter to share that the app was getting 100,000 downloads per hour.
"Chingari team wants to thank the government of India and PMO for this decision to ban Chinese apps. This step will take India one step ahead to be an Atmanirbhar economy - free from the clutches of China," Sumit Ghosh, founder of Chingari told Business Insider. Ghosh added that their servers saw massive traffic as the news came in.
Chingari’s name on the Google Play store also carries the tag ‘original Indian short video app’. The app has a 4.7 star rating and over 2.5 million downloads. According to reports, the app has gone from 6 lakh users to 25 lakh in just the last 10 days.
On Monday evening, the Indian government in an official notification said that by invoking its power under section 69A of the Information Technology Act and in view of the emergent nature of threats, it has decided to block 59 apps.
“They are engaged in activities which is prejudicial to sovereignty and integrity of India, defence of India, security of state and public order,” the government further added.
However, even before the ban officially came in, resentment against Chinese apps was rising as The India-China standoff along the border escalated tensions between the two countries. For weeks now, anti-China resentment has been rising in India – from deleting Chinese apps to boycotting products Made in China.
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TikTok, ShareIt, UC Browser, Club Factory among 59 Chinese apps banned by the Indian government