With the heating turmoil between India and China, a sudden news shocked the content creators of India. The dispute between the two countries found new heights as they received multiple casualties from the unexpected borderland clash last June. Now, India made another move against China by banning Mobile Legends and other known Chinese applications such as Tiktok and Clash of Kings.
At first, it seems like a simple Anti-Chinese propaganda to inflict damage to Chinese businesses. But the statement from the government of India says another thing.
According to the news, the Delhi government said that these apps were "prejudicial to sovereignty and integrity of India, defense of India, security of state and public order". India is known for its pool of talented Information Technology professionals. You can see them doing programming tutorials and tech guides on Youtube.
From what their government said, they're aware of the data or information these Chinese applications are collecting. But, does collecting data really puts everyone at risk?
Data collection is always present from every online apps and website. For example, Google and Facebook collects data from your search history. We trust these sites to protect our private information such as location, age, gender, photos, and videos. We are all aware of sudden incidents where personal photos and videos are leaked online. And that raised the concern of the Indian government for their citizens who are using Chinese applications.
Although Tiktok denied the accusations of giving sensitive information to the Chinese government, with the combination of their sudden dispute and the news circulating from every part of the internet about China, it is clear why India no longer trusts China.
THE IMPACT
There are 120 million active users of Tiktok in India making it as it's biggest foreign market. For Tiktok, it will feel the impact of losing 120 million users in its market but won't change the fact that it still has a lot of users all around the globe. Indian users and influencers, on the other hand, will lose their platform for making money and audiences.
For business owners, Chinese and Indian traders use WeChat as a means of communication. And for games, Mobile Legends will lose a lot of active players and revenue from in-game purchases. Indians will need to find a work-around to get access to these applications again.
What does it say for the rest of us? This gives us a reminder what permissions we give to our installed applications. It is a given that some user information will always be collected for better future services.
But, we should still be civilized of how our information is being collected, where it's going, and how is it being used. In the end, our privacy is what protects us from the realm of the digital world.
At first, it seems like a simple Anti-Chinese propaganda to inflict damage to Chinese businesses. But the statement from the government of India says another thing.
From what their government said, they're aware of the data or information these Chinese applications are collecting. But, does collecting data really puts everyone at risk?
Data collection is always present from every online apps and website. For example, Google and Facebook collects data from your search history. We trust these sites to protect our private information such as location, age, gender, photos, and videos. We are all aware of sudden incidents where personal photos and videos are leaked online. And that raised the concern of the Indian government for their citizens who are using Chinese applications.
Although Tiktok denied the accusations of giving sensitive information to the Chinese government, with the combination of their sudden dispute and the news circulating from every part of the internet about China, it is clear why India no longer trusts China.
THE IMPACT
There are 120 million active users of Tiktok in India making it as it's biggest foreign market. For Tiktok, it will feel the impact of losing 120 million users in its market but won't change the fact that it still has a lot of users all around the globe. Indian users and influencers, on the other hand, will lose their platform for making money and audiences.
For business owners, Chinese and Indian traders use WeChat as a means of communication. And for games, Mobile Legends will lose a lot of active players and revenue from in-game purchases. Indians will need to find a work-around to get access to these applications again.
What does it say for the rest of us? This gives us a reminder what permissions we give to our installed applications. It is a given that some user information will always be collected for better future services.
But, we should still be civilized of how our information is being collected, where it's going, and how is it being used. In the end, our privacy is what protects us from the realm of the digital world.
