TikTok Goes Completely Offline in India, Says ‘It’s Complying With Government Directive’

TikTok app now shows alongside a notice that reads, “Dear users, we are in the process of complying with the Government of India’s directive to block 59 apps.”

By Tasneem Akolawala | Updated: 30 June 2020 17:50 IST

TikTok Goes Completely Offline in India, Says ‘It’s Complying With Government Directive’

TikTok is one of the 59 Chinese apps banned in India

Highlights

TikTok India head says that it will offer clarifications to authorities
59 other apps that have been banned include ShareIt, UC Browser
TikTok website has stopped working as well

TikTok has now completely stopped working in India. After the Indian government imposed a ban on TikTok last night, the app was delisted from Google Play and App Store both soon after. However, it continued to work for those who had it already installed on their phone. Now, the TikTok app has completely stopped working on all devices, including the desktop website, and a user notice is displayed inside the app to inform users about the ban. Alongside, TikTok, 58 other Chinese apps have also been banned in the country.

The TikTok app now shows a network error alongside a notice that reads, “Dear users, we are in the process of complying with the Government of India's directive to block 59 apps. Ensuring the privacy and security of all our users in India remains our utmost priority.” The app now does not load new recommended videos, and instead shows a network error. The block seems to be done proactively by the company, to comply with the government directives, as a very similar notice on the Tiktok website has been signed off as TikTok India Team. The same notification was also sent to app users as a push notification.

The website has a message informing users of the ban, and notes that the developers are ‘working with the government to better understand the issue and explore a course of action.' At the time of writing, both the app and the website were completely down.

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TikTok website has a message informing users of the ban

TikTok India head Nikhil Gandhi had earlier said that the company will meet with government authorities to discuss the issue and submit clarifications. However, according to sources, Information Technology Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad has no meeting lined up with the representatives of the banned apps.

What Are India’s Biggest TikTok Competitors Saying About the App Ban?

The ByteDance-owned short video form app is claimed to comply with all privacy requirements, and that it does not share information with the Chinese government.

Government Bans 59 ‘Chinese’ Apps, But How Will This be Enforced?

Apart from TikTok, the Indian government has also banned other Chinese apps including ShareIt, UC Browser, Shein, Club Factory, Clash of Kings, Helo, Mi Community, CamScanner, ES File Explorer, VMate, and more. The government claims that these apps are prejudicial to sovereignty and integrity of India, defence of India, security of state, and public order.

WWDC 2020 had a lot of exciting announcements from Apple, but which are the best iOS 14 features for India? We discussed this on Orbital, our weekly technology podcast, which you can subscribe to via Apple Podcasts or RSS, download the episode, or just hit the play button below.

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