If you don’t have TikTok already, you won't be able to download it anymore

• The Indian government has asked Google and Apple to take down TikTok from their app stores.
• Users that don’t already have the app will no longer be able to download it.
• This comes after the Indian Supreme Court refused a stay order on the TikTok ban issued by the Madras High Court.

Update: Google and Apple have pulled TikTok from their mobile application stores in India.

The Indian government has asked Google and Apple to remove the video streaming mobile app, TikTok, from their respective app stores.

The new directive issued by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) means that users who don’t already have the app, won’t be able to download it once the order goes into effect.


At the time of writing this article, TikTok was still available in the Google Play Store and Apple’s App Store. But the app has since become unavailable in both mobile application stores.



TikTok was banned in the south Indian state of Tamil Nadu for ‘encouraging porn’ last week by the Madras High Court. The Indian high court’s interim order also included a request to the central government of India to advocate a ban nationwide.

The Chinese video-based social networking app then filed a petition with India’s supreme court citing their concern that the ban on TikTok will “amount to curtailing the rights of the citizens of India.”

They also expressed that they’re not responsible for third-party content on their platform and the Information Technology (Intermediaries Guidelines) Rules, 2011 gives TikTok conditional legal safeguards in that regard.

TikTok even removed 6 million videos from its service last week to address the problem of inappropriate content on the app.

When the matter finally came up in front of the court on Monday, the Supreme Court refused to implement a stay against the Madras High Court’s ban.

Abhishek Manu Singhvi, a senior advocate and law council for ByteDance, explained that the ban was causing irreparable damage to the company. He further contested that the Indian High Court in Madras had issued an interim order without giving TikTok the opportunity to defend itself.

The matter will be heard on April 16 by the Madras High Court. And, the three-person Supreme Court bench headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi will hear the case on April 22 after observing the proceedings tomorrow.

See also:
An Indian court has banned TikTok for ‘encouraging pornography’

Banned for hosting porn, TikTok cites damage to free speech in its appeal to India’s Supreme Court

Teens are getting arrested for playing PUBG in India