TikTok App Removed from Google Playstore Following Court’s Order

TikTok app is now removed from the Google Play store in India following the Madras High court’s request on April 3rd to ban access to TikTok. The high court asked the Govt. to ban TikTok, saying it encourages pornography and pedophile activities. According to an IT ministry official, the Govt. had sent a letter to Apple and Google to follow the high court’s order. On Tuesday, Google finally responded to the request by removing the app from the Play store.

However, Apple did not respond to requests. TikTok also kept mum after Google’s move. TikTok app which allows users to create and share short videos with special effects witnessed a rapid growth in India in recent times. App analytics firm Sensor Tower’s data says that it had more than 240 million downloads in India. Therefore, If it finally gets banned in India, it will be a huge loss for the app.

Court vs TikTok

Bytedance (The parent company of Tik Tok) challenged the High court’s ban in Supreme Court last week. However, On April 15, SC also refused the company’s plea and sent the case back to the high court.

On Tuesday, The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court further refused to lift the ban against Chinese social media app, Tik Tok and also pushed the hearing to April 24.

In an emailed statement, Tik Tok responded to the developments in the case in the court saying,

“We welcome the decision of the Madras High Court to appoint Arvind Datar as amicus curiae (independent counsel) to the court. 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, who continue using TikTok to showcase their creativity and capture moments that matter in their everyday lives.”

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