Not all politics: Why was Chinese app Bigo Live banned in India?

In June 2020, the Indian Government banned 59 Chinese apps. The reasons given were security and privacy concerns of Indian users. Bigo, the live streaming app particularly popular among teenagers, was one of the banned apps. It was widely believed that border disputes between India and China were responsible for the bans. 

What was Bigo’s reaction to the ban? 
Bigo didn’t lose hope and kept trying to re-start in India, declaring that regulations specified by the government of India would be followed. But there were no concrete answers to Bigo’s appeals. So this year the company has officially shut shop and has moved most its employees out. But Bigo Live has been banned in Pakistan too, and the USA has security concerns about it. So is there something more than border politics affecting the app?  

What is Bigo Live? 
Bigo Live is a live-streaming app, with 2 types of content: Online video gaming, and live streams of famous Asian people. While the app’s target is Asia; kids in the US and parts of Europe are also playing games on it. Bigo Live uses gaming currency called ‘beans’, and it’s not very clear how the system works, making it easy to get cheated with in-app purchases.  

What are the threats on BIGO Live? 
Bigo Live’s content is often laced with explicit language, sexually inappropriate videos and doses of violence. The app’s website looks like a typical cute and fun app for teens and young adults. That makes it even more problematic since children do not suspect anything sinister while signing up, and concerned parents will not find anything objectionable at first glance.  

The next big problem lies with the gaming part of Bigo Live. Concerns started arising in the US over the way Bigo managed to make kids spend. The Bigo Beans were attractively low in pricing, with more than 200 Beans available for a dollar. This lured kids into betting behaviour as they spent more and more without realising how much they were losing. In-app purchases were another shocker on parents’ credit card bills.