Being hopeful of lifting the ban TikTok India discusses with govt to resume operations

According to sources the ByteDance-owned company TikTok is keen to resume operations given the new IT rules of the Modi government and the Biden administration deciding to review security of Chinese apps, instead of outright banning them. However, experts and government officials don’t see India lifting the ban.

“ByteDance is definitely hopeful that the ban will be lifted and that operations in India can be resumed. India is a key market for ByteDance and no tech company can afford to not be in a country of 1.4 billion users. ByteDance is a global firm and pursuant [to] this, ByteDance has not even sought intervention of Chinese diplomats in discussions with the Indian government as the convention may be for Chinese companies.” the source said.

According to the source, TikTok representatives continue to meet with the government to push its case. “This year also, ByteDance has approached IT ministry, PMO officials and reiterated that ByteDance and TikTok will work to comply with the 2021 intermediary guidelines.”

Well before the new IT rules were notified in February this year, TikTok had appointed nodal and grievance officers who are India residents — requirements under the new rules for ‘significant’ social media intermediaries, i.e., firms with over 50 lakh users.

TikTok had an estimated 20 crore users in India at the time it was banned.

Retired IFS officer Smita Purushottam, who served as counsellor for economic and commercial affairs at the Indian Embassy in Beijing, said, “I do not see any reason to lift the ban … it created an opening for Indian-owned social media alternatives … Lifting the ban could be the thin end of the wedge, leading to the Chinese overwhelming our ICT [information communication technology] ecosystem once again.”

Former national Cybersecurity Coordinator Gulshan Rai, said, “It is highly unlikely if TikTok will be permitted at this stage, especially given TikTok has not stated precautions and steps they will take to prevent data migration/theft and correction of grounds for which they were banned.”