TikTok dismisses remaining staff in India, dashing hopes of banned app’s return

The ByteDance-owned app, which has been banned in India since June 2020, said it has closed its remote sales support hub in India
TikTok also faces mounting political backlash in the West, where US lawmakers have reintroduced bipartisan legislation to ban the Chinese app

TikTok

Coco Fengin Beijing

Published: 9:15pm, 13 Feb, 2023

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TikTok, the popular short video app banned in India since 2020, has laid off its roughly 40 remaining workers in the country amid increasing regulatory scrutiny of Chinese tech companies by New Delhi.

“We have taken the decision to close our India remote sales support hub, which was put in place at the end of 2020 to provide support to our global and regional sales teams,” a TikTok representative said on Monday.

“We greatly appreciate these employees and their impact on our company, and will ensure they are supported at this difficult time.”

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The dismissed people, who mostly supported markets outside India such as Dubai and Brazil, have been told that February 28 would be their last day as TikTok believed that restarting its Indian operations would not work “because of the government’s stance on Chinese apps”, according to a report by local newspaper The Economic Times, citing an unnamed source.

TikTok’s latest decision comes after the firm said it was “hopeful about reconnecting with our community in India” in June 2022, while denying that it had immediate plans to resume operations in the country.

TikTok, owned by Beijing-based unicorn ByteDance, has been banned by the Indian government since June 2020 on national security concerns. More than 200 Chinese apps have since been blacklisted, including dozens of betting and lending apps that were blocked last week, after a lethal military clash at the Indian-Chinese border in June 2020.

Before TikTok was banned, India was the app’s largest market by downloads, making up over 18 per cent of the global total in June 2020, compared with the United States’ 8.7 per cent, according to market intelligence firm Sensor Tower.

People hold posters in support of the Indian government banning TikTok in June 2020. Photo: AFP

New Delhi has also put increasing pressure on Chinese tech companies through probes into smartphone makers including Xiaomi, Vivo and Huawei Technologies Co. Last year, Indian authorities raided the offices of Xiaomi and Vivo over tax evasion and money laundering allegations.

TikTok also faces a mounting political backlash in the West, where US lawmakers last week reintroduced bipartisan legislation to ban the Chinese app in the country over fears that Beijing could force it to share data on American users, an accusation that ByteDance has repeatedly denied.

US President Joe Biden in December signed into law a measure prohibiting federal employees from using TikTok on government-issued devices. At least 32 US states have banned the app on local government networks or devices.

TikTok CEO Chew Shou Zi is due to testify before the US Congress in March, giving lawmakers a chance to ask a range of questions about the app’s privacy and data security practices, its impact on young users, and its relationship to the Chinese Communist Party.

In a video call last month, European Union Commissioner Thierry Breton warned Chew that the app could be banned if it fails to comply with the bloc’s Digital Services Act by September. The rules will require platforms to curb harmful content and reduce online risks.