Popular media app, TikTok, has been banned by the Madras High Court in Tamil Nadu, India. The reason for such an aggressive stand against this app is that it promotes pornography.
India makes up for nearly 39% of TikTok’s 500 million strong user base. A majority of the users fall between the ages 16 to 24. The court has been pushing the central government to adopt the ban to ensure that the impressionable youth of the country may be kept away from this “societal evil”.
The petition that was filed at the Madras High court claims that the media app encourages pornography, contains explicit content and causes medical health issues in teens.
A TikTok spokesperson told Inc42, “We are committed to respecting local laws and regulations, and in order to better coordinate with law enforcement agencies, we are also in the process of hiring a chief nodal officer, based out of India.”
The bench, led by Justice N Kirubakaran and Justice SS Sundar, issued an interim order saying that “The children who use the said application are vulnerable and may expose them to sexual predators.”
India is preparing for its general Election amidst reports of fake news being propagated on TikTok. The company’s new Public Policy director, Sandhya Sharma, will be helping TikTok maneuver this tricky landscape.
The court wishes to safeguard online privacy of children, it says in the order. We’re just not sure if banning media apps will do that but we have known that they can cause some serious damage if not controlled wisely.
Utter nonsense. In a country where porn actress is given goddess status and you want to curb this? Fools.