BackChinese apps ban: Bigo Live to delist from app stores in India
Both Bigo Live and Likee, owned by Bigo Technologies, have been named in the government’s list of banned mobile apps
PremiumLive streaming app Bigo Live has decided to unlist from the Google and Apple app stores in India after the government named it amongst the 59 Chinese apps that have been banned in the country.
Both Bigo Live and Likee, owned by Bigo Technologies, have been named in the government’s list of banned mobile apps. While the company only mentioned Bigo Live in the statement, it doesn’t appear to have taken the other app off the stores yet.
“The Government of India issued an interim order on 29 June 2020 to block 59 mobile apps, including Bigo Live. We respect the government’s order and temporarily take off Bigo Live from Google Play and App Store in India until there is further clarity provided on this matter," the company said in a statement.
“Bigo Live is under the Singapore-based Bigo Technology and we hold the utmost priority to the compliance of local laws as well as the privacy and security of all our users. We will be working closely with the Indian government under the local legal framework," the statement added.
Both apps were listed on the app stores at the time of press, and the company is yet to unlist them. China's Bytedance had taken down its TikTok, Vigo Video and Helo apps a day after the ban was announced. The Department of Telecom (DoT) has also asked telecom operators to start blocking these apps in the country.
TikTok sent a notification to its users through the app, announcing that it will stop functioning in the country. Users though have found ways to keep using the app, by using virtual private networks (VPNs) and by downloading it through third party app download website, APK Mirror. APK Mirror told Mint yesterday, that TikTok’s downloads had almost doubled since the ban.
The ban has also helped some Indian apps who witnessed unprecedented growth since the ban. Regional social media Sharechat said it accumulated 15 million new users in the 36 hours since the ban, while Glance Inmobi-owned Roposo said it got 10 million in 12 hours after the ban.
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