In a development that has fueled widespread speculation on social media, the website for the popular Chinese short-video app TikTok has become partially accessible to some users in India, five years after its nationwide ban. However, the Indian government has moved quickly to clarify the situation, confirming that the ban remains firmly in place and no official order has been issued to unblock the platform.
The partial accessibility of the website’s homepage, without the use of a Virtual Private Network (VPN), sparked a flurry of reports and social media posts suggesting a potential comeback for the platform. This led to a direct clarification from government sources who told news agencies that any such reports were “false and misleading.” The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) has not reversed its June 2020 order, which invoked Section 69A of the IT Act to block TikTok and 58 other Chinese applications due to concerns over national security and data privacy.
While some users can now access the TikTok homepage, the app itself remains unavailable on both the Google Play Store and Apple App Store. Crucially, the core functionalities of the website, such as logging in, creating new accounts, or watching videos, are still blocked. A click on any internal link often results in an error message stating that services are not available in the user’s country.
Industry experts and government officials believe that the temporary accessibility is likely a technical glitch or a network-level misconfiguration rather than a formal policy change. The incident has, however, reignited the debate about the future of the app in India, which was once its largest international market with over 200 million active users. The development also coincides with diplomatic efforts to improve relations between India and China, including agreements to resume trade and air travel.
Key Highlights:
- TikTok’s website has become partially accessible to some users in India, five years after the app was banned.
- The Indian government has clarified that the ban remains in effect and no unblocking order has been issued, calling such news “false and misleading.”
- While the website’s homepage can be seen by some, the mobile app remains unavailable, and core functions like logging in or viewing content are still blocked.
- The temporary access is believed to be a technical anomaly and not a result of any official policy change.