TikTok was one of the 59 Chinese apps banned by the government over data-security issues.
Chinese app TikTok is reportedly considering legal options against the ban imposed upon by the Government of India under the Section 69A of the Information Technology Act.
The video-sharing platform is said to be in talks with a Mumbai-based law firm on how the ban could be challenged in court.
The company will approach the government next week to clarify the allegations of misuse of data, one of the lawyers associated with the matter said as per a report by The Economic Times. Based on the response received from the government, TikTok will initiate the course of legal action.
During the meeting with the law firm, it was discussed whether the government followed the due procedure and gave enough time for TikTok to respond to the allegations. Another discussion was if the government had conducted an investigation before imposing the ban.
“An argument can be made on the grounds of principles of natural justice, as the company was not even given a hearing before the ban was imposed,” said the lawyer.
“However, the allegations against them are very serious since they pertain to national security. In the past, courts have declined interfering against government action in such national security matters.”
Another lawyer said that TikTok and its lawyers were trying to figure out if an appeal can be made directly in the Supreme Court.
TikTok was one of the 59 Chinese apps banned by the government over data-security issues.
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The IT Ministry banned these apps based on many complaints it had received from various sources including several reports about the misuse of some mobile apps available on Android and iOS platforms for stealing and surreptitiously transmitting users’ data in an unauthorised manner to servers which have locations outside India.
Soon after the ban was announced, TikTok went offline and completely stopped working on Android and iOS devices.
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