“Google and Apple have been asked by the government to take down popular Chinese short-video mobile application TikTok from their app stores, two people familiar with the matter said,” Megha Mandavia reports for The Economic Times.
“The move, by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), comes after the Supreme Court on Monday refused to stay an earlier order by the Madras High Court to ban the app. A bench, headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi, posted the matter for hearing to April 22, as the Madras High Court is expected to hear the case on April 16. MeitY’s order will help stop further downloads of the application, but people who have already downloaded it will be able to continue using it,” Mandavia reports. “‘The High Court asked the government to prohibit download of TikTok application. It (MeitY) is ensuring that by asking Google and Apple to delete it from the app stores. Now it is up to the companies to do it or appeal the order,’ said one of the people.”
“Last week, the company said it had removed over 6 million videos that violated its terms of use and community guidelines, following an exhaustive review of content generated by its users in India,” Mandavia reports. “ByteDance’s applications TikTok and Helo are hugely popular among India’s teen and pre-teen population, especially in smaller towns. Many Chinese apps, including TikTok, have come under fire not only in India but also in the US, the UK, Hong Kong and Indonesia for content that is often dangerous.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Obviously, another application will simply take its place and the responsibility for childrens’ welfare ultimately rests with the parents (who should use the parental controls available to them), not blunt-force, ineffectual, consistently-behind, often-confused government.
Oh… it’s now that MDN has an issue with curation!
On this one I can totally agree with you .. Oh well a broken clock is right twice a Day so I await the next one with a total lack of excitement.
Condemnation with faint praise, must be British…
Anyway, in that event, this broken clock has been right from the beginning.
Yeah, TikTok is sweet to watch. It always has plenty of female cuties doing their thing. Good for laughs. I must have missed the really dangerous stuff. Most of the stuff I’ve seen are harmless pranks or people doing amazing tricks and showing off job and hobby skills. I’ve also discovered a lot of music I hadn’t heard before on those videos. I honestly didn’t find much in the way offensive material on those videos. Oh, well… I’m sure some other apps will replace TikTok as those short-format videos are quite popular.
Actually, in the Indian context, these video apps are being used to spread rumors that are causing riots in which scores of people have been killed. The providers seem unable to control the incitement. This is literally shouting fire in a crowded theater, one where inter communal violence has killed literally millions of people in the last 72 years.
MDN take…Pass the buck down the line. We support personal responsibility; those who can’t do what is necessary, for whatever reason – deserve to be fscked. It’s their fault.
This place is a sewer.
MDN would have been Al Capones lawyers back in the day and no doubt Proud of their good deeds along the way.
Damn. I’ve been banned enough to know not to call out MDN.
I really don’t care. Nothing I say will ever penetrate the reactionary hypocrisy-ridden fleas that infest this site. Honestly, it’s worse than insane.