Digital Strike: India rises to grab the opportunity to fill the void from Chinese Apps removal

Digital Strike – that’s the term Union Minister for Communications, Electronics & Information Technology and Law & Justice Ravi Shankar Prasad used on India’s decision to ban 59 mobile applications with Chinese links, indicating our country’s first resentment on a virtual ground. The Union Minister had vehemently expressed that while India wants peace, it is capable of giving a ‘befitting reply’ if someone casts an ‘evil eye’ on the country.

The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) had also defended this ban and had said while India is an ‘open regime’, the country will continue to welcome foreign investments, ‘including in internet technologies’, but these will have to be in accordance with the rules and regulations on data security and privacy of individual data.

Now, banning the Apps of Chinese origin in India distinctly has a two-pronged approach. First, the country shows its resistance to the Chinese, who are all prepped for a battle against us over border issues and second, our country, through banning these Apps, gives a new lease of life to domestic developers, who can bring their innovations to fore and allow native applications to find glory. And by doing so, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ‘Vocal for Local’ campaign is realized at a faster pace. At the same time, our data stays protected from unwarranted encroachers.

Banning the Chinese Apps is rather an advantageous approach to Indian developers, but what calls for answers to certain imminent questions are how is the void left by the Chinese Apps going to be filled in a fast-paced manner and how are we so sure that the quality and the nature of the product matches good standards? More importantly, is India ready with the requisite skills to meet the demand? Considering the fact that more than half our nation is already under digital stress!

Well, we have to leave time to answer that! To get a better understanding of this Voice&Data gathered comments from industry experts. A few comments gathered here reflect and resonate on  how this is an opportunity for young India to innovate and protect our data: 

Tim Wellsmore, Director, Government Solutions, APAC, Mandiant:

India is joining an increasing list of nations who are starting to push back against the infiltration of Chinese technology and influence within its country. While on the surface, this level of Chinese technology and integration seems to be merely an after-effect of globalization, India joins other nations who are concerned about the risk it poses to their national security. While outspoken rebukes of Chinese influence are met with harsh responses from that nation-state, many national governments are starting to resort to deliberate yet subtle adjustments to reduce their exposure to technology from China.

While outspoken rebukes of Chinese influence are met with harsh responses from that nation-state, many national governments are starting to resort to deliberate yet subtle adjustments to reduce their exposure to technology from China.

The ban of the Chinese apps is a significant step for the Indian government and shows a deliberate intent to focus on technological security measures for its people. It is taken at a time of geopolitical tensions, which is typically when nation state-sponsored attacks escalate significantly.

In the short term, it may reduce access to some desired platforms for the public, but it does offer a great opportunity for Indian software developers to fill the gap normally provided by international providers. This is also an opportunity for India and its allies to support the industry to fill the void.

Huzefa Motiwala, Senior Director, Sales Engineering, Commvault: 

The pandemic has certainly induced many new ways of work and play into our already burgeoning digital lives. What it also did was it made people spend more time online, as people were either working remotely or were pushed to keep themselves entertained within the realms of their home. The digital explosion opened a gateway for app developers –with many entertainment apps gaining momentum and new COVID related apps flourishing every day.

Today, data has immense value. Your data, for example, can be sold for advertisers to target, hackers to compromise, or other third parties to use for research or perhaps less malign intents. With more consumers taking to their smartphones and apps, the opportunities for hackers looking to misappropriate consumer data have undoubtedly increased, too. So, we should be asking ourselves: who (if anyone), do you trust with that information? How can you guard and protect it from those you don’t trust having it? According to a report by Raconteur Media the digital universe is predicted to grow ten-fold to 44ZB this year. If these stats make you worry, I think it’s time to start asking these difficult questions as the game board keeps changing, with a new app surfacing every single day.

The need of the hour is to have robust, safer data management mechanisms in place to ensure your data is secure. We can do that by creating a culture of awareness towards our data -hygiene and -management best practices, from business to individual use and dissemination. For example, always using legitimate apps, only downloading them from fully accredited, legitimate platforms, and always using the most up-to-date versions of an app. For the super security-minded out there, you can even check the developer account that posted an app if you still aren’t convinced of its legitimacy. These are early smoke signals and the sooner we employ a holistic modern protection approach to our data, the safer we are in the digital world.

Anish Khandelwal, Founder & CTO, Mitron App:

It is incredibly exciting to see the rapid adoption of Mitron by Indian users. An 11-fold jump in traffic, immediately after the ban of Chinese apps, was beyond our expectations. Mitron app is a short-form video app that allows users to create, upload, and view entertaining short videos.

A day after the Government banned several Chinese apps, our App witnessed its daily traffic jump up by more than 11 times. Just 5 days after crossing the 10 million (1 crore) downloads milestone, Mitron has been downloaded by 17 million (1.7 crores) users in India. Users uploaded millions of videos in 10 different languages and the number of videos viewed on the platform increased sharply to cross 30 million video views per hour.

We are a young company and we are hiring some of the best product & engineering talent to scale up Mitron rapidly. We are confident that we can build Mitron into one of the best apps in the short-form video space. Our focus is on building features and content that uniquely resonates with Indian users while being sensitive to community standards and local laws in India and we believe that will help us build Mitron into a very large business. 

Dr Ajay Data – Founder and CEO of Data Ingenious Global:

The recent Chinese Applications ban introduced by our Government officials is based completely on the theory of ‘Nation First’. There may be repercussions to loyal users of these applications, brands would have to modify their social media promotional models.

With non-cooperation from Chinese military services and government, data hacks being carried out by these apps; a ban not only became crucial but comes out as a strong symbol of our solidarity as one nation.

The most crucial aspect to realize here is that the government scrutinizes and assesses every decision before declaring it to the public. With non-cooperation from Chinese military services and government, data hacks being carried out by these apps; a ban not only became crucial but comes out as a strong symbol of our solidarity as one nation. We cannot let the foreign corporations earn from our citizens, and attack us at the same time with no privacy provided for our sensitive data.

The ban of TikTok and other similar applications must be taken in a positive stride by the software product industry. As, it is an opportunity during the pandemic times to build a network of home-grown world-class mobile apps.1.3 billion Indian netizens are already waiting for it, just like we created VideoMeet app for video conferencing.

There lies a huge gap to be filled by Indian IT experts and app developers, and we are ready to fully support the ‘Vocal for Local’ campaign with the help of innovations in Applications and software. Technology has finally been integrated very well in our daily lifestyle, efficiency is doubled and people are keen to know more and explore more, as it influences their livelihoods.   We as a populous country have majorly contributed to foreign apps and software and made them richer, it is time we start appreciating efforts from our indigenous tech experts and IT stalwarts as well.

Sunil Nair, Firework Indian CEO:

When a category of content gets impacted by a ban, the entire ecosystem suffers - this ecosystem includes creators and brands that use these platforms to reach its audience. Having said that for any platform that wants to enter India and operate, it is important to understand the sensitivities towards our culture and the importance of taking responsibility for the actions of its users.

Firework is a short video network built for the open web - we work with hundreds of partners globally to get the high-quality stories told by our creators to a large audience across 9 countries. So Content apps, like Firework, need to build a safer environment for creators, users, and advertisers, and we at Firework are committed to this. We have created a new category of content – OGC, content created as part of a person's occupation and revolves around their livelihood and the ability to express their creativity. Firework's content moderation protocols continue to ensure a safe environment for all and we are committed to respecting the protocols set by every country we operate in.

Pankit Desai, co-founder and CEO, Sequretek:

It hits them hard where it matters to them the most. India is the largest market for them outside of their home country and it is not saturated for them, allowing them to look at expansion and substantial revenue opportunity. TikTok has over 20 cr subscribers, nowhere they will get that kind of business. A lot of these companies have their ownership as a question mark and an impact on financials will hit the party mandarins.

Chinese companies have a very dodgy data privacy practice. As a nation, they have legitimized the use of harvested citizen data to create a police state and we do not know what kind of data is being harvested by these companies and to what purpose.

There was a very popular article around Xiaomi offering value-added data services, now this is a cellphone company why is it harvesting the user data? Chinese internet companies thrived by banning Google/Facebook. Now we have not done it for anyone, but stopping the Chinese competition would allow Indian companies to thrive. Hope this ban lasts for a while giving Indian companies a chance to grow. Beyond this, it will hopefully send a message to the world that we are not a nation that will take a threat lying down.

Chinese companies have a very dodgy data privacy practice. As a nation, they have legitimized the use of harvested citizen data to create a police state and we do not know what kind of data is being harvested by these companies and to what purpose.

Berges Malu, Director- Public Policy, ShareChat:

This is a welcome move from the government against platforms that have had serious privacy, cybersecurity, and national security risks. We expect the government to continue its support for the Indian startup ecosystem.

Kumar Ritesh, Founder and CEO, CYFIRMA:

Bilateral trade between India and China is estimated to be about US$95B, and both are fast-growing economies responsible for more than 20% of the world’s GDP. The ongoing border conflict would put a damper on the two powerhouses’ trade cooperation for the short-term. The current posturing efforts have seen Chinese technology companies taking a beating with market access suddenly cut-off.

However, this could be a wake-up call to India on the importance of cybersecurity, and the need to judiciously manage the flow of sensitive data. Indian government should take this opportunity to re-evaluate cyber strategies and use cyber-intelligence to strengthen security controls; this includes enacting stringent policies where technology products must pass security certification before they can be implemented in critical information infrastructures (CII).

This could be a wake-up call to India on the importance of cybersecurity, and the need to judiciously manage the flow of sensitive data. Indian government should take this opportunity to re-evaluate cyber strategies and use cyber-intelligence.

With the move towards cashless payments and fintech solutions, government efforts should also be directed towards micro, small and medium businesses if they hold personal and financial information of customers and users. Indian businesses must start to take cybersecurity seriously and understand that data breaches can impact the long-term survival of any enterprise, and this includes bringing cyber awareness education to its workforce ensuring each individual is equipped to manage cyber-risk. Only when there is a concerted effort between public and private sectors, then can we start moving the needle to drive better cybersecurity practices and hygiene for all aspects of commerce and society.

Manas Mehrotra, Chairman, 315Work Avenue:

IT and AI tech are functional. People get used to a kind of technology and when there are restrictions or something new, people tend to move on. This is not a make or break situation. To achieve a larger goal, we need to strengthen the local developers and their products enough from a consumer and grant perspective and we could actually succeed in our intent to some extent.

Varun Bajaj, co-Founder of Boxengage.com:

Boxengage.com was created as an Indian alternative to Tiktok during the lockdown. Made by Indian entrepreneurs boxengage.com became popular overnight when the Chinese Apps were officially banned.

Boxengage.com is specially designed for the requirement of Indian customers wherein both the content creator and visitors can do much more than simply follow or comment on their influencer. Via Boxengage.com, any kind of content creator across all categories can connect with their followers via multiple ways, such as live streaming, posting videos, or even holding private sessions with their celebs or influencers and this engagement-based platform is making users stick much more on the platform.

Banning these Chinese apps, especially Tiktok, is a great step as apart from major data-privacy issues due to a Chinese origin, there was a huge debate around the limited social message of TikTok as a digital product, as the product was made keeping the Chinese mindset in mind.

Having said that, we would want to thank the Indian customers and Indian influencers, who have given such a positive response on BoxEngage.com. Our feedback has shown, Boxengage.com is winning over the Chinese-counterpart considering it has been Made in India keeping in mind the requirements of the Indian users.

Praval Singh, Vice President, Zoho:

Zoho has brought out a Doc Scanner that is entirely developed in India and is a perfect alternative to the recently banned CamScanner. At Zoho, we believe that privacy is of utmost importance, and we are adhering to all of the Government’s concerns pertaining to the same. We are currently offering Doc Scanner free across Android and iOS for users located in India. In fact, over the past few days, we have observed a surge in the number of downloads - a 20x increase in the Appstore downloads & 30x increase in the Playstore. We see this as a great opportunity to help existing customers as well as bring in new users.

The Doc Scanner also offers translation in 17 languages, and e-signing of up to 10 documents in its paid plan, which is available for free for a year in India.

N Chandramouli, CEO, TRA Research:

The Chinese app ban is the first big government step in taking China to commercial battleground. This, however, is a double-edged sword, and while many Indian apps are already gaining followers and downloads due to this, they will have to be technically ‘fit’ to deal with the new deluge of unexpected followers.

Apart from that, there are Chinese apps that are based in India and have Indian employees and they too will be hit by the ban. Similarly, there are many users who depend on some of these apps for their monetary sustenance, and shifting those followers to a new platform will be a tedious task, and they too will be severely impacted. So, while this ban will benefit some Indian apps in the short run, I doubt if the ban on Chinese apps will be permanent.

Dr. Vivek Bindra, Founder & CEO, Bada Business:

Though a political decision, the ban on Chinese apps offers a major opportunity for indigenous tech startups and developers to reposition themselves and grab the Indian market. The Chinese apps have been dominating the Indian market for the past 8-10 years and had created a stronghold for themselves. Indian technology developers are also producing good products but the competition for them was too hard. VC funding was also not very forthcoming for indigenous tech start-ups. In the absence of any institutional backing, Indian tech startups could not compete with Chinese companies that came with huge investments and the ability to spend a humongous amount of money on marketing.

The situation will change now for Indian tech companies. It will now allow Indian players to expand their footprint and give them an opportunity to fill the void left by the popular Chinese products. However, it is a long battle.

It is important that Indian software developers put a lot of effort in improving their products and offerings to make themselves competitive enough against their Chinese counterparts in the international market. India’s digital app ecosystem needs to revamp and reinvent itself to beat the global competition.

In conclusion

Well, as time is going to heal our nation and the rest of the world from the pandemic caused by the deadly pathogen SARS-CoV-2, we hope several such issues will be resolved and give us time to adapt to several challenges that come by our way.

As the country fights to protect its integrity and digital security assets, there is hope that this ban should last for really long, giving Indian companies a good chance to exhibit their prowess and prove to other countries that we are capable of developing world-class products for both domestic and foreign markets.

Anusha Ashwin

 x-anushaa@cybermedia.co.in