Woman moves Bombay HC for ban on TikTok

A public interest litigation (PIL) has been filed in the Bombay High Court seeking a ban on video app TikTok for being a medium of "unfiltered sexual content, and harming youths of the country".

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The petition was filed on November 11 by Mumbai-resident Heena Darvesh, a mother of three children. Copies of the PIL were made available on Monday. The petitioner has claimed that the usage of TikTok has resulted into several criminal incidents, including deaths in some instances.

TikTok is an application used to create, upload or share short lip-syncing comedy or music videos. The app was launched in 2017 by China-based developer Bytedance. Darvesh claimed a similar plea was filed in the Madras High Court last year seeking a ban on the app for its sexual content.

"Unfiltered sexual content on TikTok causing harm to the youth of the country. In July this year, two cases were registered by the Mumbai Police against few persons for posting videos on TikTok inciting violence and promoting enmity between religious groups," the petition states. The plea is expected to come up for hearing before a division bench this week. 

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