India Issues Order Banning Over 200 Gambling and Loan Apps, Most With Links to China: Reports

Members of the City Youth Organisation hold posters with the logos of Chinese apps in support of the Indian government for banning the wildly popular video-sharing TikTok app, in Hyderabad, India, on June 30, 2020. India banned another 54 Chinese apps in Feburary 2022. Noah Seelam/AFP via Getty Images

India’s government on Sunday issued an order to ban more than 200 foreign-based apps that offer illegal gambling and loan services, most of which have ties to China, in a move to protect the country’s sovereignty.

The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology launched the process to ban 138 gambling apps and 94 loan lending apps that allegedly contain materials prejudicial to India’s sovereignty, based on multiple media reports.