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When Will TikTok Come Back in India?
If you are wondering when will TikTok come back in India, you are not alone. A number of people have been asking the same question. In fact, TikTok was the most downloaded app on the Android platform in India in 2019. Besides, it provided employment opportunities to people from diverse backgrounds. If you’ve been following TikTok’s story, you probably want to know what will happen to the app.
ByteDance
ByteDance, the parent company of popular Indian video game TikTok, is looking to reenter the Indian market. The Chinese company had been shut out of the Indian market since June 2020, when the government banned 59 of its apps on the grounds that they shared user data with China. To see also : How to Block TikTok on iPhone. But ByteDance’s return to the Indian market may pave the way for other Chinese companies to enter the country, which is home to tens of billions of dollars in investment.
While the ban on ByteDance in India has led to layoffs and a loss of revenue for content creators, the company hasn’t given up hope of entering the desi market. In fact, the company is in talks with Mumbai-based Hiranandani Group to bring its data centre operations to India. This could be the right route to take for ByteDance’s re-entry into India.
Hiranandani Group
The Indian government has banned 59 Chinese apps, including TikTok, from its country. The reason for the ban was that the Chinese company was violating India’s data protection policies by sharing user information outside the country. See the article : How Much Money Can You Make From TikTok?. However, the company has defended itself by claiming that it has never shared user information outside of China. And, they may even shift their head office to India if they are unable to maintain the privacy of Indian users.
Earlier, TikTok was the fastest growing short video platform in India, but was banned by the government due to its links to China. Since the ban, TikTok’s developers have been looking to return to India and plan to hire former employees. They are already in talks with the Hiranandani Group for a partnership in the country. They will have to abide by local rules if they decide to come back.
ByteDance is exploring the idea of bringing back TikTok to India
Indian regulators have not yet ruled on whether the video app will be allowed to reopen in the country, but it’s likely the company will need to comply with Indian laws before it can relaunch in the country. A recent study by the Paulson Institute in Chicago indicates that six of the 10 most downloaded apps in India are from Chinese companies. TikTok was formerly the largest overseas market for the video app, accounting for 18. Read also : What Is TikTok?.8 percent of global downloads in June 2020, while the United States only accounted for 8.7%. While India was once a major market for the popular video app, it has since been replaced by a variety of Indian startups. Last year, Moj and MX TakaTak merged, with the latter gaining a major share in the Indian video app market. Since then
While the ban in India has impacted the popularity of TikTok across the globe, it has not affected the number of active users in the country. In fact, TikTok had more than 200 million Indian users. The ban on the video app was in place because of the data it collected on Indian users. It’s unclear if the ban was political or technical, but the ban coincided with a major skirmish between the Indian and Chinese militaries that caused several casualties.
ByteDance might rename TikTok before bringing it back to India
According to the reports, ByteDance is “eager to relaunch operations in India” and had been in talks to get the ban lifted. The company assured officials that it would adhere to IT Rules 2021. Moreover, ByteDance has appointed an India-based chief nodal and grievance officer, which is a crucial requirement for any intermediary platform in the country.
In the meantime, ByteDance may be trying to learn from the mistakes of PUBG Mobile and move ahead with its plans to re-launch the app in India. In a bid to get the app back into India, the company could emulate the approach taken by Krafton, which successfully relaunched PUBG Mobile in India. The company could also adopt a partnership model to comply with local regulations and host the user data locally.
ByteDance might rename the app TikTok before bringing it back in India. A number of critics of the app are concerned that TikTok is using location data to collect data from users in India. The Chinese government has since banned the app on government-issued phones. But it seems ByteDance is taking these issues seriously and might rename it before bringing it back to India.
