Even if you weren’t an active user of Tik Tok app, you would have heard its name often. Apart from the success that the application has bagged up till now, the recent Tik Tok India ban has been the major reason for making such a statement. Fortunately or unfortunately, on April 25, 2019, Madras high court had to uplift the ban on the plea of management of Tik Tok.

What is Tik Tok?

It is a video-based platform owned by ByteDance. The purpose of the platform is to grab the attention of the users by providing them with short videos. The users can create their own videos, add music and upload the videos on the application. Sharing option that the Tik Tok app has, plays a role in making those videos viral and addictive.

This application allows access to people over 13 years to create an account and spread the message. However, children below 13 are also found to be the active users of Tik Tok application, not only in India but also in the other parts of the world.

Why was the reason of Tik Tok ban in India?

Apparently, Tik Tok seems like any other social media application. But then what was the reason for the ban? The ruling of the court in which it banned the access of the new users to the application declared that the app was being responsible for propagating the young minds with inappropriate content. According to the court, exposure of children and young adults to pornography, sexual content and cyberbullying were the causes, which triggered such a decision against the Tik Tok application.

Soon after the decision was given, the Indian authorities were ordered to ensure that no new user would be able to download this application from PlayStore or IOS. Although the orders were fulfilled and officially there was no way for the Indian mobile users to download the app after the ban, the third-party applications always provide the way out to users in such cases.

Despite the ban, the users going the extra mile for the application were able to get it on their devices. Additionally, the users who already had installed this application were able to use it without facing any problems. So, the only problem that was faced by the Tik Tok app and its fan was on the new downloads only.

How was it affecting people?

The exposure to inappropriate content was creating a negative impact on the minds of the users. Additionally, the ethics, values, and morals of the users were allegedly deteriorating in the younger generation because of the use of Tik Tok application.

A case of a 24-year-old girl committing suicide because of cyberbullying through Tik Tok also came into the notice of authorities. Thus, highlighting that the content in the application has to be regularized or it can create a lot of problems for the users and the management of the company as well.

What was the potential loss during the Tik Tok India ban?

According to the response that the management of Tik Tok submitted in the court showed that the company was losing $500,000 each day since the app was banned. As the time between the ban of the app and its reversal was approx. 7 days, longs process, so you can very well estimate the overall loss of the application and its management.

What steps did Tik Tok take?

A number of new standards were introduced on the platform to limit the unacceptable content. In India alone, the management had to delete 6 million videos. These videos were either inappropriate for the audience or violated the terms of the policy of the platform. Additionally, the company had to introduce an age gate in the application, making it sure that the users of the application are at least 13 years old. By taking these steps, the management of the company was able to present their case in court. It resulted in lifting if the ban.

How was this ban a potential message to the other such applications?

Tik Tok India ban was actually a way that the other similar application could get a message from. Losing $500000 daily is a big deal. None of the companies would want to do so. So, they must be vigilant that how is their application being used as a medium for spreading the content, which type of content is being spread and how is it going to impact the audience. Moreover, data collection from the users and their privacy is another concern that the applications similar to Tik Tok must manage. Or otherwise, they’ll have to face the ban or other legal problems.

Tik Tok is not facing problems in India only. Various other countries have already banned the application. Indonesia is one of the prominent countries to cite. Additionally, the company had to pay $6 million fine to US Authorities for violating the privacy of the users. Even in China, the management of the company had a warning about the content available on this app. 

Conclusion:

Tik Tok has established itself as one of the prominent social media applications in the world. On this platform, users can share the content that they like by making a 60-second snippet. Additionally, uploading and sharing it is possible. However, there are some serious concerns with the application too. The content available on the application if remain unmonitored can create a dangerous impact on the young brains. This is why a fraction of society was in favor of Tik Tok ban. However, there were people who resisted it and considered it against the freedom of speech.

What do you think about the ban of Tik Tok application and its recent lifting? In order to let us know share your opinion in the comments section.