'We have not issued any unblocking order for TikTok', clarifies Indian govt

Amid user reports of accessing TikTok's website homepage in India, sources from the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology have stated that the ban on the Chinese video platform has not been lifted. 

According to some reports, several users claimed that they were able to access TikTok's website in India, even though the app itself continued to remain unavailable on the Google Play Store and Apple App Store.

“Government of India has not issued any unblocking order for TikTok. Any such statement/news is false and misleading," government sources said.

Why did India ban 59 mobile apps?

In June 2020, the central government banned 59 mobile applications, mostly Chinese, including TikTok, UC Browser and WeChat, citing concerns that these are ‘prejudicial to sovereignty and integrity of India, defence of India, security of state and public order’.

The decision was made against the backdrop of India's increasing border tensions with China.

Ties between Beijing and New Delhi had hit a low during the 2020 Galwan Valley clashes in eastern Ladakh.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah backed the decision to block the apps and signed off on a recommendation by then-Union Home Secretary Ajay Bhalla before the IT Ministry formally introduced the order.

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The apps were 'leaking data'?

The 59 Chinese apps had been reported for “leaking data”, HT had reported at the time.

“All these apps have been reported to have been leaking data. Their malpractices have also been singled out by experts. They have been said to take location data, transfer files to servers in China. Moreover, the beauty apps, such as beauty plus and selfie camera have also been reported for being a threat as they contain pornographic content,” an IT Ministry official had remarked.

ByteDance-owned TikTok reportedly had around 200 million users in India as of January 2020.

Chinese companies were suspected of building backdoors in their hardware and software, a frequently cited concern by several countries where officials have been cautious of deploying Chinese-made 5G networking equipment.

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