After Ban Lifts, TikTok Is Still Not Available On Apple, Google App Stores

After the Madras High Court decided to lift the ban on Chinese app TikTok, the app remained unavailable on both Apple’s App Store and Google Play Store.

Sources inside MEITY (Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology) said that after it is given the court directive, it will make the official communication to both technology firms.

Earlier, both companies were asked by the IT ministry to remove the app from its platform after the Supreme Court had refused to stay the call of the Madras High Court for the app ban on April 3.

Considering advocate Muthukumar’s case, on April 24, the Madurai Bench cancel its “interim ban” on the short video-sharing app on condition that no pornographic videos will be uploaded on it. If the app fails to do that, the legal proceeding would begin.

TikTok is a social platform that has taken India and the world by storm. The app is from a Chinese company called ByteDance. For India alone, the app claims to reach more than 120 million active users per month.

On April 25, a search for TikTok on Apple’s App Store and Google Play Store yield no result. Both companies refused to give any comment at the moment. The app would only be reinstated on these two platforms after the firms receive a directive from the government to revoke the ban.

Until now, TikTok has not made any official statement besides what it had said on April 24:

The ban, which needless to say, has affected the company severely. According to the company, the interim ban has cost the app six million downloads and over two million users. But the ban from the Madras High Court is not groundless though, as TikTok is said to be easily exploited for harmful purposes and might hurt innocent parties