Will TikTok come back in India or is the ban tougher this time?

TikTok is among the 59 Chinese apps that were banned by the Indian government, citing threat to the country’s security and society. The Ministry of Information and Technology has stated that these Chinese apps were in clear violation of privacy and shared their data on servers outside of India. The government issued a notice to Apple and Google to restrict the apps for Indian users from their respective app stores, and are also in talks with Internet Service Providers and telecom operators to help enforce the ban. This has left people questioning, “Will TikTok make a comeback in India”?

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Will TikTok come back?

This is not the first time that the Chinese social media platform has received a suspension in India. Earlier, TikTok was banned in the country for allegedly exposing children to pornographic content and some privacy concerns, although it was soon reinstated on the Google Play Store and App Store. However, it might take a bit longer for TikTok to return to India, if at all.

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Following the ban, TikTok has claimed that it complies with all the data privacy and security requirements of the Indian law and that it has not shared any information of its Indian users with any foreign government, including the Chinese government. It also claims that they will maintain the decorum and be in compliance with the Indian law in the future as well.

Nikhil Gandhi, Head of TikTok, India, has also responded to the ban saying that the company has been invited to meet with the concerned government authorities for a chance to respond and submit their clarification on the matter. So, there is still a chance of TikTok making a comeback in India.

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Users who have TikTok installed on their devices are still able to use the app despite being banned in India. However, new users won’t be able to download TikTok anymore as it has been removed from both the Google Play Store and App Store. This means that users who have the app installed on their devices will be able to keep using it, for now, but, if they uninstall it in the future, it will no longer be available to download again. The app, however, will not receive any further updates and patches which will likely make it redundant.

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Image credits: Kon Karampelas | Unsplash