After banning TikTok and hundreds of other apps, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) banned PUBG Mobile in India.
The Indian government has banned PUBG mobile along with several other Chinese apps amid the ongoing dispute between India and China.
Last month MeitY confirmed that they are monitoring PUBG Mobile along with other 258 apps. By monitoring these apps, the Indian government wanted to ensure that the data of Indian citizens is safe from the hands of the Chinese government.
To prevent the ban in India, PUBG Mobile has also changed its privacy policy specifically for India. However, it seems that even after that the Indian government decided to ban PUBG Mobile in India which is very bad news for the Indian mobile gaming community.
Here is the full list of banned apps confirmed in ANI's tweet:
Government blocks 118 mobile apps that undermine Indian sovereignty and integrity, Defense of India, State Security and Public Order: Government of India
PUBG MOBILE Nordic Map: Livik, PUBG MOBILE LITE, WeChat Work and WeChat Reading are among the banned mobile apps. pic.twitter.com/VWrg3WUnO8
- ANI (@ANI) September 2, 2020
According to MeitY, they have received reports of the misuse of several mobile apps on Android and iOS for "Stealing and surreptitiously transmitting user data in an unauthorized manner to servers located outside of India." So, to protect the sovereignty and integrity of India, as well as the data of Indian users, the Indian government has decided to block these apps on the list.
Shockingly, along with PUBG Mobile, which was developed and published by Chinese conglomerate Tencent, the Indian government has also banned PUBG Mobile Lite.
Also, it should be noted that PUBG Mobile is different from the original PUBG game for PC and consoles. The PC version of the game, normally known as PUBG, was developed by PUBG Corp., a Korean game developer. Thus, Indian gamers will still be able to play the PC version of PUBG without any difficulty.
This is incredibly devastating news for PUBG Mobile gamers in India; However, the best thing players can do right now is to switch to non-Chinese PUBG Mobile alternatives.
