Shein and Club Factory are permanently banned in India

Indian authorities have permanently banned 59 Chinese apps, including fashion shopping apps Shein and Club Factory, as well as Tik Tok, due to perceived security concerns. After border tensions between India and China rose once again, Indian authorities have issued a permanent ban on apps, ranging from fashion apps to messaging apps, close to seven months after issuing show-cause notices to ban them.

The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology sent new notices to the apps in question to ask for clarifications on a number of security issues and the MeitY was not satisfied with their answers. MeitY thus decided to change the temporary block on the apps to a permanent block. The apps were blocked in July, 2020 under Section 69 A of the Information Technology Act and relevant provisions under IT rules, 2009. In September, 2020 the government went on to ban 118 more apps, also due to security issues.

In November, the government blocked 43 more Chinese mobile apps in the country, including shopping website AliExpress, which retails a multi-brand selection of clothing, accessories, and electronics among other product categories. The permanent ban has currently been applied to the original list of 59 apps. MeitY has not shared whether it also intends to make its other temporary blocks permanent.