NEW DELHI – The ministry of electronics and information technology (MeitY) has issued fresh notices to TikTok and 58 other Chinese apps to impose a permanent ban on these apps in India, a person aware of the development said.

The ministry of electronics and information technology (MeitY) has issued fresh notices to TikTok and 58 other Chinese apps to impose a permanent ban on these apps in India, a person aware of the development said.

“The government is not satisfied with the response/explanation given by these companies. Hence, the ban for these 59 apps is permanent now,” the person cited above said, adding that the noticed was issued last week.

In June, MeitY had banned 59 apps, including Bytedance’s TikTok, Alibaba’s UC Browser and Tencent’s WeChat, citing that they are ‘engaged in activities, which is prejudicial to sovereignty and integrity of India, defence of India, security of state and public order’.

Thereafter, the government gave these companies an opportunity to explain their case regarding compliance to privacy and security requirements, before imposing a permanent ban. They were also asked to respond to a detailed questionnaire sent by the ministry. The apps were banned under section 69A of the Information Technology Act.