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Updated: July 15, 2020 12:06:07 pm
Chinese firms reminiscent of TikTok-owner ByteDance have been requested by India to answer 77 questions about their apps which were banned by New Delhi, together with whether or not they censored content material, labored on behalf of international governments or lobbied influencers.
India’s Information Technology Ministry has given the businesses three weeks to reply to the questionnaire, which has been seen by Reuters, and mentioned unspecified follow-up motion can be taken, two sources mentioned.
India final month banned the apps following a border conflict between troopers from the 2 international locations, which left 20 Indian troopers lifeless. India has mentioned the apps pose a risk to its “sovereignty and integrity”. China has criticised the ban.
The 59 banned apps, which embody TikTok and Alibaba’s UC Browser, have been requested whether or not they acted on the behest of any international authorities to edit, promote or demote any content material.
One theme of the questionnaire is whether or not content material was censored after an assault final 12 months carried out by a Pakistan-based militant group in Pulwama district in Kashmir. The assault killed no less than 40 Indian cops and heightened tensions between India and Pakistan.
READ | Why 59 Chinese apps are banned in India
“In the aftermath of the Pulwama Attack of 2019, did the company/app censor content relating to the attack or its perpetrators?” the query reads.
TikTok mentioned it was working to reply to the ministry’s queries and that it complied with all Indian legal guidelines, including that customers’ knowledge safety and privateness have been its prime priorities.
The app ban has jolted the ambitions of ByteDance in India, the place its TikTok video app was vastly standard.
Neither Alibaba nor the Indian ministry responded to requests for remark.
A supply aware of the federal government’s considering mentioned the queries have been according to federal procedures and the identical questions have been despatched to all affected firms.
One query seeks to examine if firm executives in India communicated with movie stars, social media influencers or journalists to promote any content material, even when the communication was not for industrial functions.
Other queries have been round advertisers, enterprise buildings, taxation practices and privateness insurance policies, the doc confirmed.
The authorities additionally requested the app firms whether or not they had confronted any investigation within the United States, European Union or elsewhere for surreptitiously harvesting person knowledge.
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