[WP (MD) No. 7855 of 2019]
On April 3, 2019, after hearing a PIL on the banning of TikTok, the Madurai bench of the Madras High Court issued an ex parte (without hearing the other party) order to prohibit the downloading of the TikTok app in India along with restricting media from telecasting videos made on the app. The court reasoned that the use of TikTok may be harmful to children and the government had a responsibility to prevent misuse of such apps. Following this order, the TikTok app became unavailable on popular app stores.
The court did not consider TikTok’s intermediary status as per the Information Technology Act, 2000, before issuing the ban.
Subsequently, on a request made to the Supreme Court by Bytedance (TikTok’s owner), on April 22, 2019, the apex court directed the Madras High Court bench to decide on the matter by April 24, 2019.
On April 24, 2019, after hearing Bytedance and the court appointed amicus curae (court appointed independent counsel), the bench vacated its order banning TikTok.
More details at: https://sflc.in/madras-high-court-bans-downloading-tiktok
