The Madras High Court has asked the Indian government to ban the download of TikTok
On 5th of March, the Madras High Court passed a rather unusual order responding to a public interest litigation; seeking for a ban on the TikTok social media app. The bench comprising Justice N. Kirubakaran and Justice SS Sundar has also prohibited also ordered television channels to stop running videos sourced from the social media app.
Owned by Chinese company ByteDance, the TikTok app allows to create and share short videos. Over the past year, the number of users in the TikTok app has literally exploded, becoming one of the most popular social media networks in the world. It is also very popular in India.
The petitioner contended that the app is degrading culture and encouraging pornography. He submitted before the court that the children, by using the said application, become vulnerable and exposed to sexual predators. Agreeing with the petitioner, The court found many things objectionable about the app, the court observed that it is evident from media reports that pornography and inappropriate contents are made available in this kind of applications. The court in its observation states;
The app proved to be an addictive one,...the future of the youngsters and mind set of the children are spoiled
The court also argued that the use of this app could expose children to sexual predators. The court was displeased with parody videos on the app, ruling that it is a “violation of privacy” since “nobody can be pranked or shocked or being made as a subject of mockery by any third party”.
During the PIL argument, the court also took note of a suicide report of fifteen-year-old for being scolded for using TikTok, and a man falling in waterfalls while taking a selfie for TikTok video, was also mentioned during the trial. Although there has been no concrete evidence of the existence of a suicide challenge in the Tik Tok app, the court, by way of argument, presents the case of the Blue Whale challenge, which it said“has its origins from Russia” and was “response for suicide of many youngsters in our country”
To sum up the observation of the court and recommending GOI to ban Tik Tok, the court has found Tik Tok accused of
1. Pornography and mental health: contains “degrading culture
2. Pranks
3. Potential exposure of Children to sexual predators
4. Addiction
Critics have termed the judgement as a 'Knee Jerk" which refers as an adjective (of a response) automatic and unthinking by the court -
To sum up the observation of the court and recommending GOI to ban Tik Tok, the court has found Tik Tok accused of
1. Pornography and mental health: contains “degrading culture
2. Pranks
3. Potential exposure of Children to sexual predators
4. Addiction
Critics have termed the judgement as a 'Knee Jerk" which refers as an adjective (of a response) automatic and unthinking by the court -
Some of these concerns are unusual since they do not break the law. Mocking someone or watching pornography is not illegal. Moreover, the court did not venture to explain how it arrived at the conclusion that TikTok was addictive or under what legal provision an addictive activity could be banned.
Issues Raised critics on this ban :
Why the Madras High Court's interim ban on enabling download of Tik Tok is worrying
1. Why Tik Tok specifically?
The issues highlighted about Tik Tok are symptomatic of issues related to the Internet as a whole, why target Tik Tok only.
2. The ban seems to be a disproportionate act of censorship
The application is an enabler of free speech: people have been telling jokes, running quizzes, dancing, singing and lip syncing, giving tips and tricks on the platform. Why ban new users to join the platform, are new users being punished for act of others.
3. Safe Harbor protections apply to Tik Tok - Under section 79 of IT Act - A platform cannot be held liable for the actions of its users unless it doesn’t act after a court order is issued to take down the offending content.
4. Pranks are free speech too:
If someone finds the prank to be offensive, they have access to recourse under defamation laws.
5. Accessing pornography isn’t illegal in India:
Reacting to the ban by Madras High Court TikTok released the following statement :
At TikTok, we are committed to abiding by local laws and regulations. We fully comply with the Information Technology (Intermediaries Guidelines) Rules, 2011. We are currently awaiting the official order by the Honourable High Court of Madras and once received, we will review and take appropriate action regarding this matter. Maintaining a safe and positive in-app environment at TikTok is our priority. We have robust measures to protect users against misuse, protect their privacy and digital wellbeing. This includes easy reporting mechanisms that enable users and law enforcement to report content that violates our terms of use and comprehensive Community Guidelines. In order to better coordinate with law enforcement agencies, we have appointed a Chief Nodal Officer based out of India.
Download the complete judgement, by Madras High Court PIL on Tik Tok
Read More :
The Daily Fix: Madras High Court's knee-jerk TikTok ban is another attack on free speech in India - The Scroll
"Dangerous For Children": Madras HC Prohibits Downloading Of TikTok Mobile Application [Read Order]
Why the Madras High Court's interim ban on enabling download of Tik Tok is worrying
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