TikTok banned for posting porn, cites free speech damage

A BBC report was released last week stating the video sharing platform TikTok failed to deactivate accounts of paedophiles and sexual predators despite being reported. As a result, the app received a ban from the highest judicial body in India, the Supreme Court.

Publisher repeals ban

TikTok was released by Chinese publisher ByteDance from musical.ly. Now, and they are now fighting the ban. The petition to repeal the ban states that it “amounts to curtailing of the rights of the citizens of India”.

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The company said,

“We fully comply with the Information Technology (Intermediaries Guidelines) Rules, 2011. In order to better coordinate with the law enforcement agencies, we have appointed a Chief Nodal Officer based out of India.”

TikTok a danger to children?

The video sharing platform as 500 million users, 39 per cent of whom are from India. Most of these users belong to the demographic 16 to 24. Keeping the age of users in the mind, a PIL was filed against the company stating that the content on the platform could leave children and teenagers exposed to paedophiles.

As a result, any downloads of the app were banned by Madras High Court stating that the app is “encouraging pornography”.

But TikTok isn’t the only platform where this is an issue. Instagram and WhatsApp have also been accused of providing a stage for sexual solicitation. An Israeli safety startup, AntiToxin Technologies revealed that the end to end encryption service of WhatsApp is being used to share pornographic videos.

TikTok has faced similar bans in China, Indonesia, and Bangladesh. The plea against the company will be heard on April 15 by the Supreme Court.

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