TikTok India downsize nearly 2000 employees.

Author : Ashwin G Shetty

Owing to prolonged ban for over six months, short Video sharing app Tik Tok has decided to shut down its operations and downsize its workforce in India. TikTok was one of the prominent brands of tech giant Bytedance and was envied for being the fastest growing app in India. It had nearly 120 million users as of May 2020.

On June of 2020 government had Temporarily banned TikTok along with the host of other Chinese apps. But a permanent ban was imposed by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology citing issues on the pretext of “prejudicial to sovereignty and integrity of India, defence of India, the security of the state and public order." The ban also came amid heightened tension at the Sino-Indian border.

In a press statement, a TikTok India spokesperson said, “We have worked steadfastly to comply with the Government of India orders issued on June 29, 2020. We continually strive to make our apps comply with local laws and regulations and do our best to address any concerns they have. It is therefore disappointing that in the ensuing seven months, despite our efforts we have not been given a clear direction on how and when our apps could be reinstated. It is deeply regretful that after supporting our 2000+ employees in India for more than half a year, we have no choice but to scale back the size of our workforce. We look forward to receiving the opportunity to relaunch TikTok and support the hundreds of millions of users, artists, storytellers, educators and performers in India.”

Calling India’s permanent ban on 59 Chinese apps discriminatory, Beijing accused India of repeatedly using national security as an excuse for taking action that violated WTO rules.