ByteDance in talks with Reliance for investment in TikTok: Report

The government in June banned 59 Chinese apps, including TikTok and WeChat, for threatening its “sovereignty and integrity” after border tensions with China

China’s ByteDance is in early talks with Reliance Industries Ltd for investment in its video-based app TikTok’s business in India, TechCrunch reported on Thursday, citing sources. The two companies began conversations late last month and have not reached a deal yet, according to the report. Reliance, ByteDance and TikTok did not immediately respond to Reuters requests for comment.

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The Indian government in June banned 59 Chinese apps, including TikTok and WeChat, for threatening its “sovereignty and integrity” after border tensions with China. Last week, US President Donald Trump unveiled bans on US transactions with the China-based owners of messaging app WeChat and TikTok, escalating tensions between the two countries. Microsoft Corp has been in talks to acquire the US operations of the video-sharing app. Social media platform Twitter Inc has also expressed interest in having a deal with TikTok, sources familiar with the matter told Reuters late last week.

‘Rupture in digital world’ as Trump orders ban on TikTok, WeChat in 45 days

Tiktok has come under fire from US lawmakers and the administration over national security concerning data collection

President Donald Trump announced Thursday sweeping bans on U.S. transactions with China’s ByteDance, owner of video-sharing app TikTok, and Tencent, operator of the WeChat app, starting in 45 days, in a major escalation of tensions with Beijing that one analyst described as “rupture in the digital world”. The executive orders come as the Trump administration said this week it was stepping up efforts to purge “untrusted” Chinese apps from U.S. digital networks and called the Chinese-owned short-video app TikTok and messenger app WeChat “significant threats.”

Tiktok, the hugely popular video-sharing app, has come under fire from U.S. lawmakers and the administration over national security concerning data collection, amid intensified tension between Washington and Beijing. Trump issued the orders under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, a law that grants the administration sweeping power to bar U.S. firms or citizens from trading or conducting financial transactions with sanctioned parties.

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Wednesday expanded efforts on a program it calls “Clean Network” would focus on five areas and include steps to prevent various Chinese apps, as well as Chinese telecoms companies, from accessing sensitive information on American citizens and businesses.

India TikTok ban causing $500,000 daily loss, risks jobs: China’s Bytedance

The ban has also worried the social media industry in India as it sees legal worries mounting if courts increasingly regulate content on their platforms.

India’s ban on popular Chinese video app TikTok is resulting in “financial losses” of up to $500,000 a day for its developer, Beijing Bytedance Technology Co, and has put more than 250 jobs at risk, the company said in a court filing seen by Reuters.

TikTok allows users to create and share short videos with special effects and is one of the world’s most popular apps. It has been downloaded by nearly 300 million users so far in India, out of more than 1 billion downloads globally, according to analytics firm Sensor Tower. Earlier this month, an Indian state court ordered the federal government to prohibit its downloads, saying the app was encouraging pornography. Acting upon instructions from the federal IT ministry, Apple Inc and Alphabet Inc’s Google last week removed TikTok from their India app stores.

The developments have dealt a blow to the India growth plans of Bytedance, which is backed by Japan’s SoftBank Group Corp and by private equity. Bytedance, one of the world’s most valuable startups potentially worth around $75 billion, was considering a public listing in Hong Kong this year, sources told Reuters in August.

The ban has also worried the social media industry in India as it sees legal worries mounting if courts increasingly regulate content on their platforms. In the filing made to India’s Supreme Court on Saturday, Bytedance urged the court to quash the ban and direct the federal IT ministry to tell companies such as Google and Apple to make the app available again on their platforms. The court filing is not publicly available and its contents have not been previously reported…

Madras HC lifts ban on TikTok, imposes limit on content of videos

Chinese company which owns the app says the ban resulted in a financial loss of around $500,000 daily.

The Madras HC has lifted the ban on Chinese short video sharing app TikTok, subject to the company fulfilling some conditions. After hearing the matter for about five hours on Wednesday, the Madurai Bench of Madras High Court, consisting of Justice N Kirubakaran and Justice S S Sundar vacated its interim order banning the app, subject to the condition that pornographic videos, and those on child abuse and women abuse will not be uploaded on it, failing which contempt of court proceedings would be initiated.

The same bench had, on April 3, issued an order directing the Centre to prohibit downloading of the TikTok Mobile App, as it observed that there was the risk inappropriate content such as abusive language and pornography would posted on the app.

ByteDance, backed by investor SoftBank Corp, which owns the app, moved the Apex Court against the Order. On Monday, a Supreme Court Bench headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi asked the High Court to decide on the petition against the app on April 24, failing which the ban on the app would be automatically vacated. The matter was again heard by the Madurai bench for nearly five hours on Wednesday, after which the order was passed.

While the Order copy was not available immediately, Advocate K Neelamegam, who is representing the petitioner and was present in Court, confirmed that the Court has “modified” the previous Order, subject to meeting the conditions. TikTok has said that the app will shut automatically if the user upload any objectionable videos. The company said it has created a three-layer system, including an AI-based one, and manual deletion in to take care of such cases. It also informed the Court that nearly six million controversial videos had been deleted. The firm also said it would appoint a nodal officer to address any complaints between 13 and 36 hours from their being filed.