Monday, October 7

Google blocks TikTok app in India, Apple still running it

After an Indian court decision, Google blocked video app TikTok in India from its App store.

After refusal on the ban by southern Tamil Nadu court on the request by China’s Bytedance Technology TikTok app future is now uncertain in India.

As per the latest information, the app was still available on Apple’s platforms but was no longer available on Google’s Play store in India.

The state court had on April 3 asked the federal government to ban TikTok, saying it encouraged pornography and made child users vulnerable to sexual predators. Its ruling came after an individual launched a public interest litigation calling for a ban.

The federal government had sent a letter to Apple and Google to abide by the state court’s order, according to an IT ministry official.

“We have faith in the Indian judicial system”. “And we are optimistic about an outcome that would be well received by over 120 million monthly active users in India”, the company said in its press release.

TikTok, which allows users to create and share short videos with special effects, has become hugely popular in India but has been criticized by Indian politicians over adult contents.

The app has been downloaded more than 240 million times in India. More than 30 million users in India installed it in January 2019, 12 times more than in the same month last year.

The Chinese app was valued at $75 billion in the last funding round.