- Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology(MEITY) asked TikTok to answer 24 questions by July 22, 2019.
- TikTok has over 800 million users in the world, millions of whom are in India.
Tiktok was removed from app stores for Android and iPhone due to an interim order by Madras High Court, although it was restored after the Supreme Court ruled out the order. Months after the same, TikTok might be on the same way again in India after the Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology(MEITY) asked them to answer 24 questions by July 22, 2019.
Government sources reported that if the answers are not satisfactory then both Helo and TikTok will be banned in India.
Timeline
Will be TikTok banned in India? Chances are pretty low as of now but you never know what decision the government comes up with.
Let’s have a clear look at what has happened till now-
- MEITY has sent a letter to the parent company of TikTok & Helo, ByteDance asking answers for 24 questions.
- The Company has time till 22nd July to respond. Government Sources have mentioned that if no satisfactory answers are provided to them, govt. May ban both the apps.
- In the letter, the Government has raised concern over how TikTok is planning to filter out anti-India content and obscene video clips.
- The government also asks questions about how TikTok manages objectionable content, how TikTok collects and share users data and about underage TikTok users too.
- The letter surfaced after a video on the app talked about Muslims turning into terrorists due to incidents of mob-lynching. TikTok removed the users and also deleted the videos.
Rise Of TikTok
TikTok has over 800 million users in the world, millions of whom are in India.
The app has grown very fast as it allows users to share seconds-long videos. But the growth has brought many challenges to the parent company ByteDance as it has faced challenges such as obscene videos and videos harming the communal harmony. The company is trying its best to avoid the abuse and misuse of the app. People are using TikTok as a platform to express their feelings which ranges from Jokes to political and social commentary.
In a statement, TikTok and Helo said: “We take our responsibilities to TikTok community seriously and welcome this opportunity to fully collaborate with the Government to meet and exceed our obligations.”
TikTok also said that it’s committed to India and that it is investing $1 billion here.
Reason Of The Action
TikTok also came in news and trouble in April after Madras High Court’s interim order saw it getting removed from both Apple and Android app stores. It was restored after the app assured the court about their approach towards such cases.
The government took this action after a concern letter written by Ashwani Mahajan of Swadeshi Jagran Manch (SJM) which is also an RSS- affiliate. The letter addressed to PM asked him to ban TikTok and Helo claiming that TikTok videos had become a hub for “anti-national content”.
