Madras High Court asks Centre to ban TikTok app as it is encouraging pornography

<p>Highlights:</p> Madras High Court has asked the central government to ban TikTok as it “encouraging pornography" The court’s order directs the media to not air videos made using the app. <p> </p> <p>The popular video creation app TikTok has been under the Tamil Nadu government’s radar for some time now. Earlier, the state’s IT minister asked the state government in the state assembly to initiate a dialogue with the Center to ban the application as it is said to promote “sharing of sexually-explicit material.” Now, a court in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu has asked the centre to ban the app again saying that it is "encouraging pornography". The bench has reportedly prohibited the media from telecasting videos that are made using the app.</p> <p>As per a Reuters report, the Tamil Nadu High Court was hearing a PIL against the app and said children using the app were “vulnerable to exposure to sexual predators.” "The dangerous aspect is that inappropriate contents including language and pornography are being posted in the TikTok App. There is a possibility of children contacting strangers directly and getting lured by them. Without understanding the dangers involved in these kinds of mobile apps, it is unfortunate that are our children are using these apps," the court said asking the Centre to ban TikTok. </p> <p>A TikTok spokesperson told Reuters that it is committed to abiding by local laws and is waiting for the court’s order, after which it will take appropriate actions. The spokesperson told Reuters, “Maintaining a safe and positive in-app environment ... is our priority.” As per the report, the petition was filed by a Madurai-based senior lawyer, who is also a social activist, Muthu Kumar. Kumar apparently cited pornography, child abuse and suicides as the reasons for banning TikTok. The app is owned by Beijing-based ByteDance Co. and has over 54 million monthly active users in India and touched the 1 billion download mark this February. It enables its users to create </p> <p>Related Reads:</p> <p>Tamil Nadu government might ban TikTok as it is reportedly used to “circulate extreme content”</p>

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