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Twitter Goes Into Celebration Mode As TikTok Becomes Legal In India Once Again

April 25, 2019

TikTok, the Chinese social media platform is now available for download in India after the Madras High Court lifted the ban on it. Prior to that, it was taken off from the app stores in the country after claims indicating that the app made children vulnerable to inappropriate content including pornography came to the fore.

Court Banned TikTok Fearing Exposure Of Kids To Inappropriate Content

Just a week ago, the Indian government forced it to be pulled from Google (GOOGL) and Apple’s (AAPL) online marketplaces showing concerns about its connection with displaying inappropriate content. On April 3, the Madras High Court banned TikTok saying that it can possibly expose small children to pornographic content, sexual predators, and cyberbullying.

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However, after an appeal by the parent company of TikTok, Bydedance, the court reversed its decision. The app has around 120 million active users in India. In its statement, the company said, “We are glad about this decision and we believe it is also greatly welcomed by our thriving community in India, who use TikTok as a platform to showcase their creativity.”

TikTok To Crack Down Attempts Of Its Misuse

In the past few months, the video-sharing app became immensely popular in India and accounts for almost a quarter of its global user base. Lately, the Indian government has started scrutinizing all the social media networks including Facebook (FB), Twitter (TWTR) and WhatsApp and questioning them over inappropriate content and misinformation.

Tech companies are fighting to avoid such bans and restrictions as they can cause a big blow to them. With more than 500 million people online and a potential of 800 million users, it is difficult to stop the circulation of inappropriate content or misinformation.

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TikTok lost a big way up to $500,000 per day during the week it faced a ban in the country. Incidentally, TikTok also ran into controversy in the US and had to pay a fine of around $6 million over-collection of personal information in an illegal way from kids below 13 years.

To stop such restraining orders and fines in the future, TikTok has decided to take extra efforts to crack down attempts of its misuse. The statement from Chinese app says, “We are committed to continuously enhancing our safety features as a testament to our ongoing commitment to our users in India.”