Monday marked an important day in the Indian digital industry wherein the Government of India banned 59 Chinese apps including the very popular, Tik Tok. On Tuesday morning, tik was also removed from both the Google Play Store and the Apple App store. People who still have Tik Tok on their phones can use the app, but it remains banned in India officially and cannot be downloaded anymore. Other Chinese apps which have been banned remain open for download.
Thus, the moment you uninstall Tik Tok from your phones, you will not be able to download it again. Tik Tok on this ban has mentioned that it will meet the government stakeholders so that they do get an opportunity to respond as well as submit clarification.
The ban came in days after the ongoing Chinese and Indian clash in the Galwan Valley in Eastern Ladakh. The Ministry of Information Technology mentioned that it was invoking its power under section 69A of the Information Technology Act read with the relevant provisions of the Information Technology (Procedure and Safeguards for Blocking of Access of Information by Public) Rules 2009 and in view of the emergent nature of threats has decided to block 59 apps ( see Appendix) since in view of the information available they are engaged in activities which is prejudicial to sovereignty and integrity of India, defence of India, security of state and public order.”
In April 2019 when Tik Tok was briefly banned in India, Bytedance reportedly lost $500,000 daily. Now in June 2020, the user share from India is much higher and thus the losses are also going to be much higher.
Tik Tok addicts need not worry as there remain many Indian short video apps which include Bolo Indya, Chingaria, Roposo, Mitron, and many more. Along with Tik Tok, there have been several other Chinese apps that have been banned including Shareit, WeChat, Club Factory, UC Browser, Likee, Helo, Mi Community etc.
Here is a full list of the apps banned:
