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In the name of protection of the national security and startup ecosystem, Swadeshi Jagran Manch (SJM), an economic wing of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), on Monday asked for a complete ban on the Chinese short video creating apps like TikTok and Helo.
In a letter to the Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi, SJM’s All India, Co-convener, Ashwani Mahajan said that “While we have the extensive regulation on the foreign media funding, these applications are under the garb of the social media platforms circumvent our domestic rules that exist to protect national security.”
Adding more on this, SJM in its letter wrote that “To prevent such applications from operating in India, we would humbly request the creation of a new law that requires testing and also regulation to protect our national security as well as the privacy of Indian users from countries with opposing interests to India. Until such a law gets notified, all such Chinese apps, including TikTok and Helo, should be banned by the Ministry of Home Affairs.”
“The government needs to ensure that Indian startups are not hurt by such Chinese companies, which are flush with cash and would harm the Indian startup ecosystem, its data sovereignty, and national security, it said. “In recent weeks, TikTok has become a hub for anti-national content that is being shared extensively on the application,” the letter added.