Govt. of India is in no mood to give TikTok another chance.
As per latest order from Indian Govt., Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology has asked both Google and Apple to remove TikTok app from their respective app stores.
What does this mean?
What will happen to the existing users of TikTok?
Govt of India: : TikTok Ban Is Final; Remove The App Now!
On April 4th, Madras High Court had ordered that TikTok app needs to be banned and had asked the Govt. to take action on it.
Today, responding to the Madras HC order, Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology has ordered Google and Apple to immediately remove the TikTok app from their respective app stores.
This means that no new user will be able to access TikTok app now, as it won’t be available for download.
However, users can go for alternative ways to download the app, but that can be illegal, and the downloaded code can be infected with viruses as well.
Madras High Court had banned TikTok, as it found that the app polluted the minds of the youngsters, and is harmful to the society.
Yesterday, a youth lost his life as he was attempting a TikTok video by using a pistol. By mistake, the pistol fired, and he was killed.
What About Existing Users of TikTok?
The order mentions nothing about the existing users of TikTok, and only orders Google and Apple to remove the TikTok app from the app stores.
This means that existing users can use the app without any issue, and this sounds ambiguous.
If the app is harmful for youngsters, and if is the app needs to be removed from the app stores, then it also needs to be removed from all smartphones in India.
We are awaiting more details on this.
There are more than 12 crore users of TikTok in India, and almost 40% of all TikTok users globally are in India.
This is indeed a big blow for TikTok, because India is the country where they are witnessing highest growth, and a ban from Google and Apple app stores will halt their growth.
Besides, the ruling in India can pave the path for TikTok’s ban and restricted usage anywhere, as the verdict can be used by those who find TikTok as offensive and harmful for young kids.
TikTok is insisting that they are a platform, and they have nothing to do with the users. They have also claimed that banning or restricting TikTok is a direct attack on the fundamental rights of them, and the users of the app.
After the Madras HC ruling to ban the app, TikTok had responded: “At Tik-Tok, we have faith in the Indian Judicial system and the stipulations afforded to social media platforms by the Information Technology (Intermediaries Guidelines) Rules, 2011,”
We will keep you updated, as more details comes in.
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