Tiktok ban in India

The Indian’s government issued a ban on the popular short video platform TikTok in April 2019 after it was found to host content related to child pornography. Obliged by the government order, Apple and Google pulled off the TikTok app from their respective app stores.

What is TikTok?

TikTok is a video-sharing social networking service owned by ByteDance, a Chinese company founded in 2012 by Zhang Yiming. It is used to create short dance, lip-sync, comedy and talent videos.

Why is TikTok banned?

TikTok was banned after the platform was found to host content related to child pornography. The government issued a formal ban on all pornographic websites last year that hosted child pornography. The ban has been imposed to prevent the promotion of child-related crimes.

TikTok, the popular video-sharing app owned by Chinese tech giant Bytedance, missed out on adding more than 15 million users in the nearly two weeks it was blocked from downloads by the Indian government, according to a new report from analytics firm Sensor Tower. Bytedance reportedly told the country's top court that it was losing $500,000 in revenue each day that TikTok was blocked.

What is next?

TikTok is no longer banned in India — but the app is still unavailable. The Court has only removed the interim ban for the time being. If necessary, the app may be banned once again.

Source: CNN, India today.