TikTok banned in India over fear of exposing children to sexual predators

TikTok, a Chinese-video sharing mobile app, will no longer be available to download in India.

The app which allows users to create and share short videos with special effects, is hugely popular in India but some politicians say its content is inappropriate.

A court in southern Tamil Nadu state asked the federal government on April 3 to ban TikTok, saying it encouraged pornography and warning that sexual predators could target child users.

The Indian government ordered Google and Apple to block the Chinese app after a high court in Chennai ruled that it could expose children to sexual predators, pornographic content and cyberbullying.

TikTok, which has a reported 500 million users worldwide including more than 120 million in India, has appealed the ruling and a court hearing has been scheduled for next week.

"We have faith in the Indian judicial system and we are optimistic about an outcome that would be well received by over 120 million monthly active users in India," the company said in a statement to CNN Business.

TikTok had been downloaded more than 240 million times in India, app analytics firm Sensor Tower said in February. More than 30 million users installed the app in January 2019, 12 times more than in the same month last year. Although the ban will not affect current users, people who wish to use the app will not be able to download it.