SC asks Madras HC to decide on TikTok ban by April 24

The Supreme Court on Monday asked the Madras High Court to decide by April 24 a plea challenging an interim order imposing a ban on TikTok mobile application owned by a Chinese company.

A three-judge bench headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi said that if the matter is not be decided by then, the order of the Madurai bench of the high court will stand vacated.

The bench also comprising Justices Deepak Gupta and Sanjeev Khanna, was hearing an appeal filed by Chinese company ByteDance against the high court order.

The firm, which claimed that there were over a billion downloads of its app, said the high court had passed an ex-parte order.

During the April 15 hearing, the top court had refused to stay the order.

In its April 3 order, the Madurai bench of the high court had directed the Centre to ban the mobile app, voicing concern over "pornographic and inappropriate content" being made available through the app. The order also restrained the media from telecasting videos made using the app.

The order had come after the court noted that through this app, children are being exposed to inappropriate content including pornography, adding that minors are also being exposed to strangers through this app.

"It is evident from media reports that pornography and inappropriate contents are made available in this kind of cyber applications. The children are exposed to strangers and there is a possibility of the photographs and other private details of the children are being landed in the hands of predators or third parties," the bench had observed.

TikTok, an app that allows users to create and share short videos with special effects, has over 54 million monthly active users in India.