TikTok’s parent company Bytedance is going to shut down its music service Resso in India starting January 31, 2024, according to a TechCrunch report. The report suggests that Resso’s exit came after the Indian government instructed Google and Apple to take down the music service from their app stores. Bytedance has confirmed the exit, saying that its decision is a result of “local market conditions”.
This isn’t the first time ByteDance has had to shut down operations in India. In June 2020, India blocked TikTok as a part of a wider crackdown on 59 Chinese apps. This ban had come amid border tensions between India and China. The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) had, at the time, said that it received many representations raising concerns from citizens regarding the alleged security and privacy risks of these apps. It is unclear whether security and privacy risks are the reason behind the current ban as well.
Chinese companies under the regulatory radar:
Besides TikTok and Resso, other Chinese businesses are encountering troubles in India as well. India has been making attempts to reduce the market domination of Chinese telecom manufacturers Huawei and ZTE since 2022. The country had directed telecom service providers (TSP) to only use equipment that bears a ‘Trusted Products’ mark for network expansion, and according to the Economic Times, this trusted products tag was not provided to the two companies. This provision of trusted sources was earlier only applicable in the telecom license but has now been included under the Telecommunication Act, 2023.
India has reportedly barred Indian drone manufacturers from using Chinese components in drones in August. In September, the government notified an import restriction for laptops and tablets with the IT Minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar saying that imports would only be allowed from “trusted sources”. Given the $558.36 million spent on importing laptops and tablets from China, this import restriction was seen as an attempt to reduce dependence on China even though the trusted sources were never defined. There has been no confirmation on the status of this import restriction. When MediaNama filed an RTI asking about the status of the import restriction, we were provided with the September notification as a response.
In October 2023, the Enforcement Directorate arrested four individuals in a money laundering probe against the Chinese smartphone manufacturer Vivo. The ED accused them of carrying out activities that are “prejudicial to the economic sovereignty of India”.
STAY ON TOP OF TECH POLICY: Our daily newsletter with the top story of the day from MediaNama, delivered to your inbox before 9 AM. Click here to sign up today!
Also read:
- India Blocks Access To 59 Apps Including TikTok, Shein, UC Browser Over National Security And Privacy Issues
- Roundup: Ban On Using Chinese Components In Military Drones, Karnataka Govt’s Plans To Become A Drone Sector Hub, And Other Stories
- Laptop Imports To India Must Only Be From Trusted Sources: Rajeev Chandrasekhar
