
Indian government asks Apple and Google to take down TikTok app - thatssosid
https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/tech/software/no-sc-stay-on-ban-government-asks-apple-google-to-take-down-tiktok-app/articleshow/68898483.cms
======
swatkat7
"ByteDance’s applications TikTok and Helo are hugely popular among India’s
teen and pre-teen population, especially in smaller towns. Many Chinese apps,
including TikTok, have come under fire not only in India but also in the US,
the UK, Hong Kong and Indonesia for content that is often dangerously close to
exposing children to nudity and possibly those who seek to coerce or groom
underage users into committing explicit acts."

Saved you a click. The rest of the article is fluff.

~~~
robocat
TikTok's argument is also relevant:

In its petition to the Supreme Court [snip] The app was like any other social
media platform, it said, adding that singling out TikTok was discriminatory
and arbitrary.

~~~
yorwba
They probably also have a pretty good nudity filter, considering that all
pornography is illegal in China.

~~~
vegiraghav
Search on youtube "tiktok indian videos". You will probably campaign to make
the ban permanent.

~~~
yorwba
If the videos can be found on YouTube, the problem can't be with TikTok alone,
surely.

~~~
vegiraghav
well those videos aren't exactly the worst of the lot though

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tareqak
Google has now blocked Tik Tok in India as a result [0].

[0] [https://www.reuters.com/article/us-tiktok-india-
court/google...](https://www.reuters.com/article/us-tiktok-india-court/google-
blocks-chinese-app-tiktok-in-india-after-court-order-idUSKCN1RS1HT)

~~~
drak0n1c
YouTube also blocked two PewDiePie videos and their comments sections in India
on behalf of the high court following a corporate defamation suit. Lately it's
not unusual for Indian courts to censor specific media productions and
platforms.

~~~
sn41
When did this happen? I can access the channel from India. Was it something
that was temporary?

(I do want to support individual producers over corporate houses, but the
whole PewDiePie vs. T-Series has a lot of racist and xenophobic overtones.
This is what seems strange. Not all Indians like the T-Series brand, which has
stood for cheap mass-market music and terrible quality cassettes once upon a
time, but when the brand is vilified for being Indian in the comments
sections, I feel revulsion towards the commenters.)

~~~
nonamechicken
Two of his videos are not available in India any more.

[https://www.firstpost.com/tech/news-analysis/high-court-
orde...](https://www.firstpost.com/tech/news-analysis/high-court-orders-
youtube-to-pull-down-pewdiepies-diss-songs-against-t-series-6437621.html)

[https://www.quora.com/Why-did-Delhi-High-Court-banned-
PewDie...](https://www.quora.com/Why-did-Delhi-High-Court-banned-PewDiePies-
diss-songs)

------
umeshunni
Less terrible site: [https://www.reuters.com/article/us-tiktok-india-
court/indian...](https://www.reuters.com/article/us-tiktok-india-court/indian-
court-refuses-to-suspend-ban-order-on-chinese-app-tiktok-idUSKCN1RS1HT)

~~~
rkho
This should be the link in the OP

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esrauch
Christ, that site is probably the worst ad-laden/features promos experience on
mobile that I've seen.

~~~
talonx
It's no better on the desktop. With uBlockOrigin, I can see 33 primary domains
(ad and social networks), and 3 times that number secondary ones, blocked.

~~~
morganvachon
Yes, and it breaks the back button too. That is one of my major pet peeves and
I immediately add any site that does it to a black hole filter.

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grwthckrmstr
Lol, I clicked the link hoping to read the article, got bombarded with a dozen
pops and what not.

Then I was like, "ah Indiatimes, my mistake my mistake. I should have checked
the link"

(I'm from India and I avoid Indian media sites like a plague)

~~~
wincy
I made sure to click their fake "allow notifications" modal so that the
browser one would pop up and I could click "never allow".

~~~
grwthckrmstr
I'll do that next time!

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_bxg1
They didn't explain the actual reason until literally the last sentence

~~~
0xcafecafe
That's a fair sample of Indian mainstream media for you. Most of the stuff
will be in the headline with some info sprinkled in the article.

~~~
symlinkk
Indian media? All media is like that.

------
cloudengineer
The issue has to do more with culture than exposed children. The kulcha
warriors are worried about exposure by women.

~~~
jvsg
The same kulcha warriors also decriminalized homosexuality. While your
favorite party (read family) was not able to for decades of their rule.

------
bruceb
TikTok is one of a couple Chinese apps that have similar disturbing content in
India. [https://factordaily.com/chinese-app-kwai-turns-a-blind-
eye-t...](https://factordaily.com/chinese-app-kwai-turns-a-blind-eye-to-
videos-of-underage-girls-in-india/)

------
pavlov
AFAIK India is TikTok's second largest market after its native China.

There's big money at stake here. ByteDance, the company behind TikTok, is one
of the most valuable private companies in the world: its last fundraising
round was at a valuation of $75 billion USD.

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wataruspeedo
Clicked link. Saw notification request and Google sign in. Left.

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mathnmusic
Anyone got a link to an APK that is safe to install?

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udwum
TikTok is a Chinese application so I wonder if there are other interests at
play.

~~~
zavi
Check out Weibo, there's already a Proud Han army furiously attributing this
ban to an Indian-American conspiracy designed to stop China's rightful rise.

The reality is, if you are unable to prevent millions of your users from
seeing videos of sexualized children you will get in trouble.

~~~
hangonhn
Pornography is outright illegal in China so I imagine TikTok has that part
nailed down.

~~~
zavi
You don't have to imagine, you can use it for 30 minutes yourself, it's wild
west.

~~~
StudyAnimal
I did, no porn or even casual nudity to be found. It’s squeaky clean. Search
terms that might return anything like nudity or violence return 0 results and
I checked to see if I was in restricted mode or not. It’s the same as
Snapchat, just as clean, just as boring.

------
pujan28
But why would the government be in in involved in banning apps. Don't we have
more important cases pending.

~~~
devmunchies
I have no idea why people would want the government to step in. Forfeiting
freedom because it's more convenient than being a hard-ass parent and not
letting your child use the app or phone.

~~~
lucasmullens
There are certainly apps that should be illegal where the government should
step in, right? Unless you're arguing that all apps should be legal?

