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Anirudha Yerunkar
He is working as Chief Sub Editor with India.com and has experience in Digital Media and YouTube. He has covered Budget 2023, 2024, 2025 for reputed channels. Born and brought up in Mumbai, he is an e ... Read More
The popular Chinese short-video platform TikTok, banned in India from 2020 on national security grounds. Now it appears to be making a return as several users on Friday reported that TikTok’s official website has suddenly become accessible for the first time in five years. However, the mobile app still remains unavailable on app stores.
However ANI report citing govt sources confirmed, “Government of India has not issued any unblocking order for TikTok. Any such statement/news is false and misleading.”
In June 2020, the Indian government banned 59 Chinese apps, including TikTok, UC Browser, Shareit, and Clash of Kings, citing threats to sovereignty, integrity, and national security. The Ministry of Information Technology had exercised powers under Section 69A of the IT Act, supported by provisions of the IT (Procedure and Safeguards for Blocking Access) Rules, 2009, to impose the ban.
The timing of TikTok’s website resurfacing matched with current movements in India-China relations. Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi recently visited New Delhi, meeting NSA Ajit Doval, External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar, and Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He also gave President Xi Jinping’s invitation for the upcoming SCO Summit (Aug 31–Sept 1). The diplomatic movement has happened after the trade tensions with the US under President Donald Trump’s tariff regime.
While TikTok’s app remains unavailable, the renewed website access has sparked speculation that the platform could be preparing for a formal re-entry into the Indian market. However there is no official confirmation from the government or from the side of TikTok.
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