TikTok Ban in India: Madras HC to pass interim order on the ban today

New Delhi, Apr 24: The Supreme Court ordered the Madras High Court to pass an interim order on the TikTok ban in India. The court also said that if the High Court fails to decide on the interim relief by on 24 April, the order will stand vacated - which means, the ban on TikTok app will be overturned.

On 3 April, Madras High Court directed center to ban the download of the TikTok app in India owing to its 'pornographic' and 'sleazy' content, which it says is polluting the younger audience. It's also been alleged, in several countries no less, that the app is proving to be a fertile hunting ground for paedophiles.

Earlier, Google had blocked access to TikTok in India to comply with the Madras High Court's order to prohibit its downloads, news agency Reuters reported on Tuesday.

The app, which is owned by Chinese company ByteDance, allows users to create short videos and then share them. The court had directed the Centre to ban the Tiktok app over concerns about access to pornographic content through it.

The high court had on April 3 directed the Centre to ban mobile application "TikTok" as it voiced concern over the "pornographic and inappropriate content" being made available through such apps.

It had directed the media not to telecast video clips made with TikTok. The app allows the users to create short videos and then share them.

It had asked the government if it would enact a statute on the line of the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act in the US and posted the matter for further hearing on April 16.

The high court's interim order came on a public interest litigation (PIL) which alleged that the app encouraged paedophiles and the content "degraded culture and encouraged pornography".