The Indian government already banned TikTok in June 2020.
It is almost certain that Chinese short video app TikTok will be banned in America. The court asked TikTok to sell its stake to its parent company ByteDance by January 19, failing which the app will be banned in the United States.
A US federal court on Friday rejected the app’s “free speech” appeal. During the hearing, a three-judge panel rejected ByteDance’s claims and said no U.S. law in any way prevents “free speech.”
Justice Douglas Ginsburg wrote in the decision: “The First Amendment to the Constitution exists to protect free speech in America. The government protected the enemy country’s freedom of speech. America prevented the opposing country from collecting data on the American people.
The Indian government banned the Chinese short video app in June 2020 and the British government in March 2023. Apart from this, around 50 countries including Pakistan, Nepal and Afghanistan have also banned TikTok.
Note – Data according to the Pew Research Survey report released in September.
What’s the problem?
US President Joe Biden passed a law banning the TikTok application. During the bill’s presentation, the app was described as a threat to national security and user privacy. The Senate, the upper house of the US Parliament, passed the anti-enforcement bill. 79-18. Was passed by votes on April 24 of this year, Biden had signed this new bill banning the application. Biden issued an order requiring ByteDance to sell its stake in 9 months. Then, TikTok CEO Shaw Ji Chew said: “We will go to court against the new law. » The CEO of TikTok had filed a petition in the US court, calling the bill “free speech”. TikTok hoped the federal government would argue it. to be heard in court, but his hope was lost.
What are the options? Companies can go to the Supreme Court – ByteDance and TikTok can challenge the decision in the Supreme Court, although it is unclear whether the court will take up the case or not. The companies confirmed their intention to take the case to a higher court, saying the Supreme Court has “an established track record of protecting Americans’ right to free speech.”
New President Donald Trump May Lift Ban – If TikTok is banned on January 19, it may be shut down. Because on January 20, newly elected President Donald Trump will be sworn in and it is believed that Trump may oppose banning TikTok. Trump had talked about defending TikTok during his election campaign. However, this is not considered legally possible.
One option would be that Trump could also ask Congress to repeal this law, which would require support from the Republican Party. TikTok had proposed a deal to the Biden administration in 2022, but the administration believes that complying with it could pose technical problems. Experts believe that Trump’s position may change after receiving new information.
Donald Trump during an election rally in North Carolina, November 2, 2024.
What effect will a ban have on the app?
Many content creators and small businesses rely on TikTok. If this is banned, they could face a jobs crisis. According to TikTok data from March 2024, more than 7 crore US small businesses use TikTok. By 2023, these businesses had earned 1.27 lakh crore from TikTok. For this reason, there is opposition to the ban in America. If TikTok is banned, advertisers will have to turn to other social media platforms. Options like Meta already exist and experts predict that other options may also appear in the future. Oracle Corp. This might come as a surprise, as it provides internet hosting for TikTok.
More than 500 apps, including TikTok, banned in India. The TikTok app was banned in India in June 2020. The Indian government had termed Chinese apps as a threat to the country’s sovereignty and security. After the military clash on the India-China border, India banned 59 Chinese applications, including TikTok. Months before the ban, India had also banned investments from Chinese companies. So far, more than 500 Chinese apps have been banned in India.
The Chinese company’s video app TikTok has been accused of promoting pornography. Apart from this, he also had to face allegations of data theft of Indians. The Madras High Court had initially banned it. After being banned from the High Court, ByteDance had appealed to the Supreme Court. He had also restored order to the Madras High Court.
Due to the ban in India, its parent company ByteDance is incurring a loss of 5 lakh (Rs 3.50 crore) every day. The Madras High Court has ordered the central government to ban the downloading of TikTok, which promotes pornography. After this, the Ministry of Information and Technology had asked Apple and Google to remove TikTok from its online store. Both companies removed the app. At that time, there were 24 million TikTok users in the country.
What did TikTok say? At the time of the ban, Nikhil Gandhi, CEO of TikTok India, had said: We respect Indian law. We follow all data privacy and security rules under Indian law. We have not shared Indian user information with any foreign government, including China. Even if we are asked to do so in the future, we will not do it. We understand the importance of user privacy.
How Chinese apps got banned in India? There is a section in the IT Act 2000 – 69A. This article states that if the government considers that it is in the interest of the sovereignty, security and unity of the country, then it can order the blocking of any computer resources intended for the people. This section states that if the government order is not complied with, imprisonment of up to seven years may be imposed and a fine may also be imposed.