The government of India banned 59 mobile apps with links to China last night. The list includes some very popular –even viral– apps like TikTok for instance. Many are calling it India’s digital (surgical) strike on China amid the ongoing standoff along the LAC. Many are also wondering how (and why) PUBG Mobile escaped the government ban.
Hours after the news broke, and the full list was available for all to see, people started taking to Twitter to express their views about the whole thing. It seems many were expecting PUBG Mobile would be part of the list as well and there were also some early media reports and WhatsApp group conversations that suggested likewise. Only, PUBG Mobile wasn’t banned in India, or you can say, it hasn’t been banned in India yet.
https://twitter.com/hawaibatein/status/1277642752247750656
https://twitter.com/Vyaparibro/status/1277658053504937985
https://twitter.com/dnmxsidfan/status/1277634200762322944
https://twitter.com/dhruvin1310/status/1277637344338702340
Woof! #PUBGMOBILE is not in the list! #BoycottChina pic.twitter.com/ClqP7xCdpS
— abhishek aggarwal (@abhi568) June 29, 2020
There’s always been a lot of confusion about the origin of PUBG Mobile since it is the mobile version of PUBG, an online multiplayer battle royale game made by South Korean video game company Bluehole subsidiary PUBG Corporation. PUBG Mobile isn’t made by the same subsidiary though — it is made by Shenzhen-based Tencent Games.
PUBG Mobile has millions of users around the world and India happens to be one of its biggest markets. The game is so popular that it even got a mention in one of PM Narendra Modi’s “Pariksha Pe Charcha” event where he jokingly asked a parent (who was complaining about how her kids were into online gaming) if “ye PUBG wala hain kya?” (is this a PUBG Mobile issue?).
As popular as PUBG Mobile is, it is also often associated with the term “addiction” and there have been several calls by state governments and National Commission for Protection of Child Rights to ban the game in India. Which is why, it’s surprising to see it escape the government ban.
Meanwhile, here’s the full list of 59 Chinese apps that have been banned in India. We have also compiled a list of alternatives that you can use if you were reliant on some of them.
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