KATHMANDU, Aug 24: Five years after India banned TikTok, the short-video platform briefly resurfaced online, fueling speculation about a possible return in India. On Friday, several users in India reported being able to access TikTok’s official website, though the app itself remained unavailable for download on both Google Play and Apple’s App Store.
The sudden reappearance created a wave of excitement among former users, many of whom took to social media to share screenshots of the website loading after years of being blocked. However, attempts to log in, watch content, or upload videos did not work, indicating the site wasn’t fully functional, according to Indian media reports.
Amid the buzz, the Indian government quickly clarified that there has been no change in TikTok’s status. Officials categorically stated that the app continues to be banned under the 2020 order, dismissing the claims of a return as “false and misleading.”
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A Ministry of Electronics and IT official emphasized: “The government has not issued any directive to unblock TikTok. Reports suggesting otherwise are inaccurate,” reported The Times of India.
ByteDance, TikTok’s parent company, also denied that the service was being restored. A spokesperson said the platform continues to comply with Indian regulations and has not taken any steps to reintroduce the app.
Industry experts suggested that the brief accessibility may have been the result of a technical glitch, possibly a network-level misconfiguration, rather than a deliberate attempt to relaunch TikTok in India.
TikTok, once India’s most downloaded app with over 200 million users, was banned in June 2020 along with 58 other Chinese apps. The Indian government cited concerns over data security and national sovereignty, arguing that the apps posed risks to user privacy and were “prejudicial to India’s integrity.”
The move was part of a larger crackdown on Chinese tech platforms amid rising geopolitical tensions between India and China. Since then, TikTok has remained inaccessible, and ByteDance has significantly scaled down its operations in India.
While TikTok remains immensely popular in other parts of the world, its return to India faces major hurdles. The government has shown no signs of reversing the ban, and any comeback would likely require TikTok to make significant assurances on data localization, security, and compliance with Indian laws.
For now, the platform’s momentary reappearance looks more like a emporary glitch than a genuine revival. Still, the incident underscores the enduring popularity of TikTok in India and the curiosity surrounding its potential return.
