It seems that B2B giants Alibaba and its founder Jack Ma have gotten themselves into trouble. A district court in Gurugram, India, has summoned Alibab and Ma on the basis of a complaint filed by a former employee. The former “Indian employee” claims that he was wrongfully fired after he objected to what he claims to be “fake news and censorship” on the company’s app.
These reports come shortly after the Indian government decided to ban 59 Chinese apps in the country which included the likes of “TikTok” and “UC Browser”, after the clash between the Indian and Chinese forces at the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in Ladakh’s Galwan Velley region.
Pushpinder Singh Parmar, the former employee of Alibaba’s “UC Web”, alleged that the company was using censorship on content that was reportedly seen as “unfavorable” to China. It is also alleged that UC Browser and UC News showed false and incorrect news that created “political turmoil”.
As per reports, Gurugram district court judge, Sonia Sheokand has issued summons to several individuals including Alibaba and Jack Ma.
In a statement released by the representatives of UC India, it said that “unwavering in its commitment to the Indian market and the welfare of its local employees, and its policies are in compliance with local laws. We are unable to comment on ongoing litigation”.
As per data analytics reports, before the apps were banned in India, the UC Browser app had been downloaded at least 689 million times, while UC News had 79.8 million downloads.
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The recent clashes of the armed forces of India and China along the LAC have seen the relations between the two nations “deteriorate”. It now remains to be seen how these recent developments will further impact the “India-China” relations.