Regulate, don’t ban, say app users & parents after calls to ban TikTok

With the recent verdict of the Madurai bench of the Madras High Court on urged the Central government to ban TikTok. It said that children who were using the video-sharing app were vulnerable to exposing themselves to sexual predators. The court also asked the government if it would enact a statute like the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act in the US. Now.

However, the Chinese company Bytedance Technology Co, has approached the Supreme Court, asking it to quash the directive by the High Court. The company told the court that a ban “amounts to curtailing of the rights of the citizens of India...who have been using the platform everyday to express themselves and create content.”

An expert says, through the app TIKTOK, they are using the best ideas by using, it will hurt free speech rights. It is absolutely incorrect…However, it may be good by calling it a brilliant medium for creative expression. The fact of the life is, it has been proved as the addiction to the Mobile phones. Specially children’s are getting influenced with the TikTok and they often forget the time and place, this brings a security concern to their life.

The Company is trying hard by taking few good feedbacks from the users, includes tomorrow your expression, could be viewed by any film makers, which could turn into a business opportunity. With this the app is increasing popularity in India, with 8.86 crore new users just in the first quarter of 2019. The news about the call for its ban has understandably upset those who use it as a platform to showcase their talents.

There is bad and good for everything, and the same goes for this app. I feel there are far more important issues that need to be addressed and banned immediately. The wise idea could be to regulating its content and the server has to be in the country, so that the authorities can see when there is any vulnerability. The apps have benefited mightily from the short-video craze that’s taken hold among pre-teens and adolescents but this is putting them in danger from predators. The videos range from the harmless to the explicit, depending upon the users followed. To make it user friendly, TIKTOK app is available in various Indian languages, making them easier to use than Facebook or Instagram. With all this feature and regular promotions in the app could bring several potential risks .
 

As the High Court observes, “The dangerous aspect is that inappropriate contents including language and pornography are being posted in the TikTok app. There is a possibility of children contacting strangers directly and getting lured by them. It is unfortunate that our children are using these apps without understanding the dangers involved in these kinds of mobile apps.”

After the case was presented in the Madras High Court, there were reports that the Karnataka State Commission for Women is planning to submit a writ appeal to the Supreme Court to ban the usage of the app. Nagalakshmi Bai, the head of the Commission, was quoted as saying, “TikTok is used by everyone and it encourages pornography. The videos that children using the app make are overtly sexual in nature, which is a reason for concern. We are worried about the ill-effects the app could have on young minds. Recently, there were incidents in Bengaluru and Mumbai involving children, where a teenage boy sexually assaulted his younger sister. Apps like these are a reason that women are objectified.”

With this news the app maker says on Friday said that they have removed over six million videos in India that have violated its community guidelines since July last year. “This is part of TikTok’s ongoing efforts to make its millions of users feel safe and comfortable within the community by empowering them with the right tools and resources. The fact is when the server is not.

It can be wise the government to regulate the content specially for the minors, rather ban TIKTOK. Fiew users of the app say, that they use it for entertainment .

Karnika Seth, a Delhi-based lawyer and cyber law expert says, that the type of content circulated on the platform has an important role in deciding whether the said platform should be banned or not. “For any app or social media, if it has any kind of adult content which involves children, then it is important to remember that child pornography is prohibited under the IT Act. Banning the app depends on the kind of content it has, especially if it also involves minors. One needs to check if it is only adult content, or if it is child pornography or something directly obscene or impliedly obscene, and then decide whether it should be banned or not. The content has to be looked at objectively. If something really amounts to being pornographic, a question can be raised,” she says.