A court in India has lifted its ban on popular video-sharing app TikTok, which resulted in it being temporarily booted from the Indian iOS and Google Play app stores.
The app was ordered removed after accusations that it encouraged pornography and could pose a danger to kids from sexual predators. However, the decision was overturned on Wednesday afer a plea from developers Beijing Bytedance Technology.
The decision is not being appealed — meaning that the app will stay. Speaking with Reuters, a senior government official said that it will now ask Apple and Google to allow TikTok to be reinstated.
In a statement, a spokesperson for the app said that it was glad to hear about the court’s decision. “We are grateful for the opportunity to continue serving our users better.”
TikTok has amassed more than 1 billon downloads around the world. 300 million of its users are located in India, making it one of the app’s biggest markets. During the temporary ban, TikTok supposedly incurred losses of up to $500,000 per day. This put more than 250 jobs at risk.
The challenges of doing business internationally
This case wasn’t the first time that Apple had to enforce local legal decisions by banning certain apps. The company has run into problems in China, where it has had to block certain apps which were breaking local laws. These included the popular video and voice chat tool Skype, which was removed from the Chinese App Store.
Apple has also had its own battles in India. Late last year, Apple agreed to make an anti-spam application developed by the Indian government available locally. However, Apple had previously expressed concerns that it revealed too much information about users to the government. In the end, Apple made the decision to back down on its original stance.
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Source: Reuters
