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India bans PUBG, Baidu and more than 100 apps linked to China

bbc.com

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Re: India bans PUBG, Baidu and more than 100 apps linked to China

#161

Post by kelnos »

eggsnbacon1 wrote: post #136
actuator wrote: post #95

I think this might be related to the Tibetan origin special forces soldier of Indian Army being killed in some recent altercation with PRC on their northern border.[1] I do think India is going on a slippery slope now. With Tiktok, one can even make a case of it being used to manipulate sentiments and being used for propoganda, but that argument can hardly be made for a game like PubG. It also brings into question wh…

India and China aren't exactly friends, I think its pretty reasonable to limit business ties of any kind. A sovereign nation has the right to ban any import, are you disputing that?

Just because a nation has the right to do something, it doesn't make it a good idea, or even in their best interest to do so.

Re: India bans PUBG, Baidu and more than 100 apps linked to China

#162

Post by pier25 »

searchableguy wrote: post #43
jeswin wrote: post #31

What I wish India would do is this: force Chinese phone companies to ship stock Android and full source code. They sell hundreds of millions of phones in India and will have to find middle ground, and the outcome will be good for everyone.

I expect this to increase prices for chinese phones. It is well known that xiaomi operates on thin margin so they can push their IT services and recoup the cost.

And how come Xiaomi has models with Android One?

Re: India bans PUBG, Baidu and more than 100 apps linked to China

#163

Post by tchalla »

magicsmoke wrote: post #107
adventured wrote: post #81

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I would like to see India start replacing inexpensive phones made in China with inexpensive phones made in India. In all cases it's better if India develops their own industry further such that they rely on China less. If they can make iPhones in India, they can certainly figure out how to build competitive, inexpensive phones to replace those made in China.

They manufacture iPhones in India, they don't design them there.

Apple assembles phones in India, it doesn't manufacture in India yet.

Re: India bans PUBG, Baidu and more than 100 apps linked to China

#164

Post by elliekelly »

eggsnbacon1 wrote: post #136
actuator wrote: post #95

I think this might be related to the Tibetan origin special forces soldier of Indian Army being killed in some recent altercation with PRC on their northern border.[1] I do think India is going on a slippery slope now. With Tiktok, one can even make a case of it being used to manipulate sentiments and being used for propoganda, but that argument can hardly be made for a game like PubG. It also brings into question wh…

India and China aren't exactly friends, I think its pretty reasonable to limit business ties of any kind. A sovereign nation has the right to ban any import, are you disputing that?

Is a video game, or any digital file, "an import" anymore? There's nothing physical to be imported so what the government is really "banning" here is access to information. That makes me a little uncomfortable, especially given India's reason: "they are engaged in activities which is prejudicial to sovereignty and integrity of India, defence of India, security of state and public order".

I'm not even sure what that means but I suspect that's intentional. From my reading though it doesn't sound like India is doing this as economic sanctions or for the health/safety/welfare of citizens (which would be the typical reasons for a democracy to ban an import). Instead it seems the government has decided that allowing citizens to access this information presents some sort of national security threat.

Re: India bans PUBG, Baidu and more than 100 apps linked to China

#165

Post by noisy_boy »

ideals wrote: post #54

So far in the news (that I consume) I only see countries being agressive towards Chinese software companies. I can't imagine this goes on and continues escalating long before China reacts strongly. What is China's response going to look like? I feel uneasy that their response is going to light the fire even more.

TikTok/PUBG are "bannable" items; banning physical items that people need/use daily, most of which are made in china, will majorly backfire. The average voter doesn't care enough about these apps to raise a stink.

Re: India bans PUBG, Baidu and more than 100 apps linked to China

#166

Post by ra7 »

ignoramous wrote: post #91

https://internetfreedom.in is doing important work in challenging the Indian government's surveillance and censorship apparatus. If you're passionate about this, consider donating to them and/or participating in the conversation. They're active, from time to time, on r/India as well. (not affiliated with them in anyway or form, but I do work on anti-censorship tech).

> https://internetfreedom.in is doing important work in challenging the Indian government's surveillance and censorship apparatus.

> They're active, from time to time, on r/India as well.

I'm all for challenging government surveillance and censorship. But the irony here is laughable given r/India's propensity to hand out bans like chocolates for anyone not subscribing to the groupthink.

Re: India bans PUBG, Baidu and more than 100 apps linked to China

#167

Post by apta »

pagan42 wrote: post #158

The Chinese government mandates that every app written in China must track and trace it's users. This applies to apps running outside China but owned by Chinese companies. 1+ or Xiaomi or Huawei, they can't really do anything about it. They have to track users to be not banned.

It's surprising to see people in the US defend tiktok without realizing what's actually going on behind the scenes. Every company that does business in China, especially if hugely successful, will have the government step in to intervene and spy.

Re: India bans PUBG, Baidu and more than 100 apps linked to China

#168

Post by noisy_boy »

throwaway4good wrote: post #14

Where is the Indian opposition on this? Are they fully behind Modi's nationalism? There is a raging pandemic. Massive recession. Potential war with China. Internet bans. Crackdown in Kashmir. There has to be some questions?

In the current atmosphere of raging nationalism, no opposition party will protest the legality/sensibility of the ban for the fear of being labelled "traitor"/"anti-national"/"friends of China" etc. Anyway, these are token populist bans without any real teeth. India lost 20 soliders in the Chinese aggression along the line-of-control; Modi didn't once name China as the aggressor responsible for that.

India doesn't have a strong and credible opposition. Otherwise, with the economy in shambles due to a series of shitty decisions like demonetization/poor implementation of GST etc, any component front shouldn't have much difficulty mobilizing popular support.

Re: India bans PUBG, Baidu and more than 100 apps linked to China

#169

Post by addicted »

actuator wrote: post #121
Aperocky wrote: post #117

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why would PRC start a trade war with anybody when they're all largely customers. China barely imports anything from India so there's not even a place to start.

Not import restrictions, more like export restrictions, just to make the other suffer. Wiki infobox suggests that they just have 3% exports to India, they can choose to take that hit. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economy_of_China

Why would the PRC follow India’s lead in foot shooting when they can simply not and come out better?

It’s like the US which is currently undermining itself in some sort of nonsensical effort to match China in the very things we don’t like about China and ends up hurting China.

Re: India bans PUBG, Baidu and more than 100 apps linked to China

#170

Post by HaloZero »

RandoHolmes wrote: post #122
mayankkaizen wrote: post #93

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is typical HN mentality to assume that other people are comparatively well versed in technical aspects. 99% indians (may be a little exaggerated figure) don't have any clue about VPN. Most don't even know how to side-install any app. So government actions do have some significance.

I don't think so. I knew an Iranian women who told me in Iran everyone knew how to setup and configure a VPN due to the restrictions they have in place. It's that way western countries because we don't have such restrictions.

I wonder how much of that is a networking effect. If you met an Iranian woman outside of Iran, the chances they had the money to travel or have a connected family is higher.

I think the government nets capture lots of people. Anyone who is trying to avoid it can but those groups tend to be middle class or higher. So maybe instead of 99% it's like 51%?

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