TikTok app back on Google and Apple app stores

CHENNAI | BENGALURU: Following the Madras High Court's order, the ban on the download of the popular social media app, TikTok has been lifted and the app is now available on the Google Play store and the Apple App store. Earlier in April, the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court had directed the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology to disallow Apple and Google from hosting the app on their application stores, ruling on a public interest litigation that stated that the app encouraged pornography and made children vulnerable to sexual predators. In its order vacating the ban, a copy of which is available with ET, the court stated that while it is concerned about several incidents of women and children using cyberspace and becoming victims as reported in newspaper and social media, it is, "also aware of the fact that the millions of users are denied their rights to have access to the said platform which also promises several good things."It further said "Though it is admitted that this possible mischief and irreparable damage that may be caused to innocent children and women cannot be ruled out, taking note of the safety features projected by the 9th respondent (Bytedance India) and the statutory protection and remedies available under the Statue, the interim order granted by this Court on 03.04.2019 is vacated."TikTok in an earlier affidavit had stated that the company had taken numerous measures to filter inappropriate or obscene and negative content including machine moderation and that it had removed six million videos, the contents of which were doubtful. In a response to the court's order on April 24, the company had said "We are grateful for the opportunity to continue serving our users better. While we’re pleased that our efforts to fight against misuse of the platform has been recognised, the work is never “done” on our end. We are committed to continuously enhancing our safety features as a testament to our ongoing commitment to our users in India.”

from Economic Times http://bit.ly/2ZMFNlA
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