Yesterday, the Madras HC heard a complaint about the now notorious TikTok app, though we're still to hear what the outcome was.
In the meantime, the Supreme Court refused to put a stay on the interim ban the HC had called for, which means the app has been de-listed.
Reuters
But has the ban been effective? Have people stopped using TikTok in India -- both new users and existing users? Can people still access the TikTok app from other places, not Google or Apple? Let's try to answer all these questions below...?
The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MEITY) reportedly instructed both Google and Apple to take down TikTok from the Play Store and App Store respectively. Google complied last night and Apple followed suit earlier this morning. But while those are the two largest app platforms out there, they're not by a long shot the only ones.
In fact, we've confirmed TikTok is still very much accessible on other third party app stores belonging to Xiaomi and Huawei at the very least. Not to mention it's not hard for Android users (which are what most Indians are) to download the app's APK from elsewhere. So what's happened is that this ban is looking less like decisive action by an authority, and more like panicked flailing.
Furthermore, the ban and de-listing just stops you from downloading the TikTok app, it does nothing to interfere with its working if you'd already installed it before. So the Madras HC has (debatably) stopped new kids from joining the app, but the kids already on the platform are left to fend for themselves.
And it's not like that's impossible to tackle either. If you're really worried about an app's dangers and negative influences, it's possible to block access to the app servers. What's instead happening is the equivalent of locking the kitchen door and standing guard after the kids are already inside stuffing their faces with cake.
Ok, so this point is a lot more nuanced, so bear with me. There have been fears for a while now that TikTok, and apps like it, are a hunting ground for pedophiles. And in fact, that fear is very valid. At its core, the app is full of kids sharing short videos of themselves doing what they think are silly things. The problem is that they can be easily exploited using some of the apps built-in features.
Take the split-screen "duet" for instance. This was originally meant for two people to lip sync a song side by side, or show off dance moves. They're not recording together either. One person records on their half of the screen and, when another user thinks they can work with it, they record for the other half.
Over time, people have learned to use this to act out scenes across panels. For instance, a common theme among many youngsters is to pretend to make out across the panels, to the soundtrack of a cutesy song. Until of course someone with less wholesome ideas gets in on it. You can imagine how wrong that could go how quickly.
However Bytedance, the company that owns TikTok, doesn't fully agree. They're the ones that pushed for a stay on the ban in the SC, the hearing for which will take place on April 22, claiming that the move undermines the freedom of speech in India. And to an extent, they have a point.
Banning a singular commercial service and not other like it can easily look like government censorship, not to mention a violation of Internet Freedom. After all, this follows a nation-wide porn ban, the blocking of Reddit, and a ban on PUBG. Each of these instances were unjustified, vaguely worded, and only carried out in patchwork form.
It's argued that this ban is to protect Indian kids from pornography and the like, but that's not seeing the forest for the tree in front of you.
Basically, the entire Internet is dangerous for kids, that's why parents should be involved in their digital habits. Banning TikTok doesn't end its effects. It just moves as users shift to copycat apps, or even adds cybersecurity threats when people try to illegally obtain the app from online third-party sources.
That's why a lot of people have been wondering whether TikTok's ban has anything to do with the fact that it's a Chinese app. It's not news that India is wary of its Eastern neighbour. We use their smartphones and apps, but we're always on the lookout for betrayal. For instance, many apps classified as spyware by the Indian government are Chinese in origin.
It is common knowledge after all that China has strict control over all data in the country, thanks to its enclosed Internet called the "Great Firewall". This means companies with their servers in the country are subject to intense scrutiny and surveillance. And yes, that also includes your data. So is the TikTok ban just another piece of an anti-Chinese agenda? No one can really say.
It's important to note though that this is an interim ban, not a final decision, meaning the entire issue could swing either way. The Madras HC seems bent sticking to its pre-formed decision, so it comes to whether the SC sees viable evidence to the contrary.
If that happens, Tik Tok could be back up and running in India again in no time. Somehow though, I don't think that's the case. This may in fact truly be TikTok's last hurrah in the country.