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TikTok banned in India over fear of exposing children to sexual predators

TikTok banned in India over fear of exposing children to sexual predators

TikTok has a reported 500 million users worldwide including more than 120 million in India.
18 Apr, 2019

TikTok, a Chinese-video sharing mobile app, will no longer be available to download in India.

The app which allows users to create and share short videos with special effects, is hugely popular in India but some politicians say its content is inappropriate.

A court in southern Tamil Nadu state asked the federal government on April 3 to ban TikTok, saying it encouraged pornography and warning that sexual predators could target child users.

The Indian government ordered Google and Apple to block the Chinese app after a high court in Chennai ruled that it could expose children to sexual predators, pornographic content and cyberbullying.

TikTok, which has a reported 500 million users worldwide including more than 120 million in India, has appealed the ruling and a court hearing has been scheduled for next week.

"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 a statement to CNN Business.

TikTok had been downloaded more than 240 million times in India, app analytics firm Sensor Tower said in February. More than 30 million users installed the app in January 2019, 12 times more than in the same month last year. Although the ban will not affect current users, people who wish to use the app will not be able to download it.

Comments

kiran Apr 18, 2019 11:29am
useless app
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Wali Apr 18, 2019 11:35am
Very good step. Pakistan must do the same.
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Hasan Siftain Apr 18, 2019 12:25pm
Chinese apps are being target specifically, if Allegations have even one iota of truth then Facebook also promotes pornography and child abuse. Will India ban facebook too? if Not, then this is selective morality and China must raise this issue
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aslam khan Apr 18, 2019 12:39pm
Internet full of lot more sick perverted people than around their neighborhoods.
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Hans Apr 18, 2019 03:10pm
good step.. pakistan ban tiktok too the same to protect our youngster from un-islamic culture.. all this video and social app are exploiting Pakistani culture and are not good for our young generation ... our young people should use internet for education.. to compete the us and europe educated people.
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Guardian Apr 18, 2019 11:12pm
Ban cellphone use for kids! Banning an app won't solve the problem.
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jaredlee007 Apr 19, 2019 07:23am
And what about banning items songs with kids in them?
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