Madras High Court on Wednesday lifted the ban on TikTok, subject to certain conditions including a ban on pornography in the platform. The ban leads to almost $500,000 loss per day and 250 jobs at risk. TikTok claims to have 54 million active users in India.
The order came two days after the Supreme Court said if the high court failed to decide the plea before it, then the ban order would stand vacated. The top court earlier refused to interfere with the HC order that directed the Centre to ban the TikTok app over concerns about access to pornographic content and worries over children being exposed to sexual predators.
Deciding the case filed by advocate Muthukumar, the bench vacated its interim order banning the app, subject to conditions that pornographic videos will not be uploaded on it, failing with the contempt of court proceedings would begin.
Following the government order, TikTok was blocked from Play Store and App Store from April 2019. Now as the ban lifted, user can download TikTok from Play Store and App Store.
In a statement issued after the high court order, the company welcomed the court’s decision. “We are glad about this decision and we believe it is also greatly welcomed by our thriving community in India, who use TikTok as a platform to showcase their creativity. We are grateful for the opportunity to continue serving our users better,” the firm said.