Garena Free Fire, 53 other Chinese apps banned by Indian govt in fresh move: Full list here
India Today
The Indian government has banned 54 new apps, including Garena Free Fire, saying that it has the “Power to issue directions for interception or monitoring or decryption of any information through any computer resource.”
In a fresh blow to apps belonging to foreign companies, India has banned an additional 54 apps, blocking access to them through app stores. The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology has released a list of 54 apps that are recommended for a ban, and, interestingly, it includes Garena Free Fire, which is a battle royale game owned by Singapore-based Sea Ltd. The government said that it has the “power to issue directions for interception or monitoring or decryption of any information through any computer resource.”
While the list includes several lesser photo editing, video editing, app cloning apps, the biggest name is Garena Free Fire’s, which is one of the top downloaded games in India. Garena grew in terms of popularity after the ban on PUBG Mobile in 2020 threw a wrench in India’s mobile gaming industry. Nearly a year later, Krafton launched Battlegrounds Mobile India as a censored version of PUBG Mobile, highlighting that the game has no Chinese connection.
The ban on Garena Free Fire, however, does not apply to the publisher’s second game called Garena Free Fire Max. At the time of writing, Garena Free Fire Max was available for download on the Google Play Store. Coincidentally, the list of banned apps released by the government does not mention Free Fire Max either. However, Apple has delisted both Free Fire and Free Fire Max from its iOS app store in India.
Here is the full list of banned apps:
1. Beauty Camera: Sweet Selfie HD2. Beauty Camera Selfie Camera3. Equalizer Bass Booster & Volume EQ & Virtualizer4. Music Player- Music.Mp3 Player5. Equalizer & Bass Booster Music Volume EQ6. Music Plus MP3 Player7. Equalizer Pro Volume Booster & Bass Booster8. Video Player Media All Format9. Music Player Equalizer & MP310. Volume Booster Loud Speaker & Sound Booster11. Music Player MP3 Player12. CamCard for SalesForce Ent13. Isoland 2: Ashes of Time Lite14. Rise of Kingdoms: Lost Crusade15. APUS Security HD (Pad Version)16. Parallel Space Lite 32 Support17. Viva Video Editor Snack Video Maker with Music18. Nice video baidu19. Tencent Xriver20. Onmyoji Chess21. Onmyoji Arena22. AppLock23. Dual Space Lite Multiple Accounts & Clone App24. Dual Space Pro Multiple Accounts & App Cloner25. DualSpace Lite 32Bit Support26. Dual Space 32Bit Support27. Dual Space 64Bit Support28. Dual Space Pro 32Bit Support29. Conquer Online MMORPG Game30. Conquer Online Il31. Live Weather & Radar Alerts32. Notes- Color Notepad, Notebook33. MP3 Cutter Ringtone Maker & Audio Cutter34. Voice Recorder & Voice Changer35. Barcode Scanner QR Code Scan36. Lica Cam selfie camera app37. EVE Echoes38. Astracraft39. UU Game Booster-network solution for high ping40. Extraordinary Ones41. Badlanders42. Stick Fight: The Game Mobile43. Twilight Pioneers44. CuteU: Match With The World45. Small World-Enjoy groupchat and video chat46. CuteU Pro47. FancvU Video Chat & Meetup48. Real: Go Live. Make Friends49. MoonChat: Enjoy Video Chats50. Real Lite -video to live!51. Wink: Connect Now52. FunChat Meet People Around You53. FancyU pro Instant Meetup through Video chat!54. Garena Free Fire Illuminate
