Madras High Court to Decide TikTok’s Fate in India on 24 April: SC

TikTok has been banned in India and is not available on the Google Playstore and Apple app store.

TikTok has been taken off the Google Playstore and Apple app stores in India.

(Photo: The Quint)

The Supreme Court on Monday directed the Madras High Court to decide on April 24 a plea of TikTok app seeking vacating of its ban order.

A bench headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi said if the Madras High Court fails to decide on the plea of TikTok app then its ban order will stand vacated. This means that if the Madras High Court cannot take a decision, the ban on the app will be lifted.

The apex court had earlier refused to stay the Madras High Court order that directed the Centre to ban the "Tiktok" app over concerns about access to pornographic content through it.

The government had asked tech giants Google and Apple to take the app off from their platforms on 17 April after the Madras High Court had ordered a ban on the popular video chat app. The app still remain absent from the app stores.

TikTok has run into controversy in India, with many people using the platform to share content of violent, communal and even sexual nature. Most recently, a teen was shot dead while allegedly filming a video involving a gun.

Users who already have the TikTok app in their phones will be able to use the app. However, there is still ambiguity around how the updates for these apps will be doled out.

With over 54 million users every month, TikTok allows its users to create and share videos and is currently adding more than 8 crore users every quarter.

— with inputs from PTI