TikTok was banned in India in June 2020 over data privacy and security concerns.
Some users can now access TikTok’s official website, while others cannot.
No official word yet from TikTok or the Indian government on its return.
TikTok, a short video platform, has been banned in India since 2020 after gaining massive popularity. TikTok might be making a comeback in India. The speculations came under the limelight when the website recently became accessible to some users. However, the company has not officially confirmed the India comeback.
SurveyBack in June 2020, the Indian government under Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced a ban on TikTok and 58 other Chinese apps for alleged data privacy and national security concerns. At that time, the Chinese short video platform backed by ByteDance had over 200 million active Indian users.
After seeing the speculation online, we also checked TikTok’s official website and it does open. That said, several users on X reported that they still couldn’t access it, suggesting that availability may be limited or part of a testing phase. While the website being live does hint at a possible comeback, the TikTok app itself remains unavailable on both the Google Play Store and Apple App Store.
The TikTok comeback buzz coincides with signs of easing tensions between India and China. Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi paid a visit to India earlier this week, where he met with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar, both of whom emphasised the importance of “candid and constructive” dialogue. PM Modi is also expected to visit China later this month to attend the SCO Summit, fuelling speculation that Chinese apps will re-enter the Indian market.
However, there’s still a catch. Neither the Indian government nor the company has issued any statement about TikTok’s return. The ban is very much in place, and without official approvals, the app cannot restart operations in India. For now, all eyes are on whether this renewed buzz will actually translate into a comeback.
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Ashish Singh
Ashish Singh is the Chief Copy Editor at Digit. He's been wrangling tech jargon since 2020 (Times Internet, Jagran English '22). When not policing commas, he's likely fueling his gadget habit with coffee, strategising his next virtual race, or plotting a road trip to test the latest in-car tech. He speaks fluent Geek. View Full Profile
