Madras HC directs Centre to ban TikTok app
The Madras High Court on Wednesday passed an order directing the Centre to ban the downloading of the mobile application TikTok.
TikTok is a Chinese app which allows users to create short music videos with special effects. It has over 54 billion monthly active users.
The Madras High Court banned TiKTok app saying that it was “encouraging pornography”. The children who were using this app were vulnerable to exposure to sexual predators. The court’s order said, “By becoming addicted to TikTok app, and similar apps or cyber games, the future of the youngsters and mindset of the children are spoiled.”
The Madurai bench of the Madras High Court on Wednesday passed an order directing the Centre to prohibit the downloading of the TikTok, bar and bench reported.
The Madras HC which has been hearing public interest litigation against TikTok app said in the order “Inappropriate content was TikTok’s dangerous aspect and there is a possibility of the children contacting strangers directly”.
The judges, Justices N Kirubakaran and SS Sunda also directed the central government to respond before 16 April if it would enact regulations such as the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act in the US to prevent children becoming online victims.
The development comes nearly two months after Tamil Nadu Information Technology minister M Manikandan said the state government will seek Centre’s help to ban Tiktok.
A 15-year-old in Mumbai committing suicide for being scolded for using TikTok and a man falling into a waterfall while taking a selfie for the app. The High Court also cited the Blue Whale challenge and reprimanded the government for not taking early action on such problems.
The Blue Whale challenge was an online game in which a designated curator assigned players various tasks over a 50-day period, culminating in the player committing suicide. The government has a social responsibility to prevent these kinds of applications and also take action against the persons who are making use of it.
Earlier also we have reported a ban on the most trending online game PUBG (Player’s Unknown Battle Ground) at Rajkot by State Government. The government felt that the game was leading to a violent attitude amongst the youth. After the notification issued by the government 10 people were taken into custody for going against the ban.
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