TikTok ban imminent? Supreme Court refuses urgent plea hearing on Madras High Court’s ban order

After PUBG, w TikTok has run into serious legal trouble in India after Madras High Court asked central government to ban TikTok for “encouraging porgraphy.” In what could be bad news for TikTok, Supreme Court of India has refused to entertain urgent plea hearing on Madras High Court’s ban order.

What is TikTok ban controversy in India?

Last week, Madurai bench of Madras High Court had directed Centre to ban TikTok as it raised concern over "porgraphic and inappropriate contents" being made available through such apps.

court order has come following Public interest litigation( PIL) alleging that TikTok encourd paedophiles and contents were very disturbing.

READ | Madras High Court asks government to ban TikTok for “encouraging porgraphy”

order came weeks after Tamil Nadu Information Techlogy minister M Manikandan said that state will seek centre’s help to ban video-sharing platform that reportedly misleads children and youth.

Of late, TikTok has become a viral sensation in India. app is owned and operated by China’s Bytedance and it allows users to create and share short video clips with special effects and audio.

Supreme Court refuses TikTok’s urgent plea hearing

Supreme Court has refused urgent hearing of a plea challenging Madras High Court order directing Centre to ban TikTok app over concerns about access to porgraphic content through it. Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi and Justices Deepak Gupta and Sanjiv Khanna said plea will come up for hearing in due course of time.

Meanwhile, Senior advocate A M Singhvi, appearing for Chinese company ByteDance, said that TikTok has over billion downloads and Madurai bench of Madras High Court has passed an ex-parte order.

READ | Supreme Court refuses urgent listing of plea against High Court order asking Centre to ban TikTok app

Earlier, TikTok agreed to pay $5.7 million fine to FTC in a settlement over allegations of violating Children's Online Privacy Protection Act. As a result, TikTok w restricts under users below of 13 from using app.

Countries such as Indonesia and Bangladesh have already imposed a ban on TikTok.

(With PTI inputs)