TikTok Goes Completely Offline in “Digital India”
NEW DELHI: Popular short video app TikTok has stopped working in India, a day after the Indian government banned the app and 58 other apps in a bid to counter the threat posed by these apps to the country’s “sovereignty and security”.
“Dear users, we are in the process of complying with the government of India’s directive to block 59 apps. Ensuring the privacy and security of all our users in India remains our utmost priority” TikTok said in a notice to its users within the app.
Now, the TikTok app has completely stopped working on all devices, including the desktop website, and a user notice is displayed inside the app to inform users about the ban. Alongside, TikTok, 58 other Chinese apps have also been banned in the country.
Earlier in the day, Tiktok and Helo had gone missing from the Google Play Store and Apple’s App Store although several other apps that are present in the list of banned apps including UC Browser, Shareit, WeChat, Bigo Live, and Shein, are still available to download on both these stores.
TikTok Tuesday said that it complies with all Indian laws and has not shared information of users with any government, including the Chinese government, a day after the app was banned. Nikhil Gandhi, head of TikTok India said that it will meet Indian govt officials “to respond and submit clarifications”.
Gandhi, in a note said, “the Government of India has issued an interim order for the blocking of 59 apps, including TikTok and we are in the process of complying with it”. “We have been invited to meet with concerned government stakeholders for an opportunity to respond and submit clarification,” added Gandhi.
The ByteDance-owned short video form app is claimed to comply with all privacy requirements, and that it does not share information with the Chinese government.
Apart from TikTok, the Indian government has also banned other Chinese apps including ShareIt, UC Browser, Shein, Club Factory, Clash of Kings, Helo, Mi Community, CamScanner, ES File Explorer, VMate, and more. The government claims that these apps are prejudicial to sovereignty and integrity of India, defence of India, security of state, and public order.
