TikTok Supreme Court hearing today: Final verdict on Madras High Court's ban order expected

Update (April 22 / 12:21 PM): Supreme Court directs Madras High Court to act upon plea against ban order on April 24

The Supreme Court on Monday directed the Madras High Court to act upon the plea against ban order on video-sharing app TikTok on April 24.

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TikTok ban controversy in India is expected to provide us with some new insight as the Supreme Court will hear TikTok's plea today. According to our sources, the Supreme Court hearing is slotted for the first half and based on the outcome of today's hearing, the company might release a statement. Today's SC hearing is also expected to decide the fate of TikTok in India and it will be interesting to see whether the SC upholds the order directed by the Madras HC to ban TikTok over concerns of access to pornographic content to it.

Last week, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) directed Google and Apple to block TikTok, thus preventing users from downloading the app from Google Play Store and Apple App Store. The video-sharing has more than 120 million monthly active users in India.

TikTok ban in India: The story so far

Earlier this month, the Madras High Court bench asked the centre to impose a nationwide ban on the TikTok for "encouraging pornography." The court also directed media from broadcasting videos made using TikTok. Last week, the Supreme Court refused to stay the Madras High Court order and subsequently the government instructed Google and Apple to take down the TikTok app from their respective app stores.

The Madras High Court appointed Amicus Curiae to the court while TikTok said it has faith in the Indian judicial system.

READ | Timeline of TikTok controversy: Major events that led to removal of TikTok app from Play Store, App Store

After Google and Apple blocked Indians from downloading TikTok on their phone, Internet Freedom Foundation (IF), in its letter to the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology recommended alternative measures to address concerns over children’s safety on the internet.

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In spite of the TikTok ban in India, TikTok's parent organisation ByteDance remains "very optimistic." ByteDance plans to invest $1 billion in India. Currently, ByteDance has a workforce of 500 in India and the company is planning to hire 1,000 more.