TikTok may be banned in the US. Here’s what happened when India outlawed the Chinese app

In June 2020, New Delhi banned the popular app, alongside dozens of Chinese apps, following a military clash along the India-China border

Within months of the Indian ban, Google rolled out YouTube Shorts and Instagram pushed out its Reels feature, mimicking short-form videos TikTok excelled at

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Sikh volunteers hang a sign reading ‘Tiktok is prohibited here’, at the Golden Temple in Amritsar. Photo: AFP/File

Published: 10:00pm, 24 Apr 2024Updated: 11:58pm, 24 Apr 2024

The hugely popular Chinese app TikTok may be forced out of the US, where a measure to outlaw the video-sharing app has won congressional approval and is on its way to President Joe Biden for his signature.

In India, the app was banned nearly four years ago. Here’s what happened:

Why did India ban TikTok?

In June 2020, TikTok users in India bid goodbye to the app, which is operated by Chinese internet firm ByteDance. New Delhi had suddenly banned the popular app, alongside dozens other Chinese apps, following a military clash along the India-China border. Twenty Indian and four Chinese soldiers were killed, and ties between the two Asian giants plunged to a new low.

The government cited privacy concerns and said that Chinese apps pose a threat to India’s sovereignty and security.

TikTok wasn’t a one-off case. Today, India has banned over 500 Chinese apps to date

Nikhil Pahwa, digital policy expert

The move mostly drew widespread support in India, where protesters had been calling for a boycott of Chinese goods since the deadly confrontation in the remote Karakoram mountain border region.