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Mumbai: Mother of three files PIL seeking Tik Tok ban

Ban popular video sharing app Tik Tok as it is harming young minds, a public interest litigation has urged the Bombay high court. 

 
 

Mumbai: Mother of three files PIL seeking Tik Tok ban
Author
Bengaluru, First Published Nov 19, 2019, 2:44 PM IST

Mumbai: A public interest litigation (PIL) has been filed in Bombay High Court seeking a ban on video app TikTok for being a medium of "unfiltered sexual content, and harming youths of the country".

The petition was filed on November 11 by Mumbai-resident Heena Darvesh, a mother of three children. Her petition claims the app is affecting young people’s mind, more specifically children, by causing addiction, leading to degraded mental health.

Copies of the PIL were made available on Monday.

The petitioner has claimed that the usage of TikTok has resulted into several criminal incidents, including deaths in some instances.

TikTok is an application used to create, upload or share short lip-syncing comedy or music videos.

The app was launched in 2017 by China-based developer Bytedance and has more than 200 million users.

Darvesh has alleged that Tik-Tok has caused innumerable accidents and deaths and even stoked enmity among religious groups. “In July 2019, two FIRs were field in Mumbai following a controversial video/audio that sparked religious enmity,” the PIL added.

Darvesh claimed a similar plea was filed in Madras high court last year seeking a ban on the app for its sexual content and its potential to expose children to sexual predators. Complaints were made last month to several authorities to ban the app. However, no action was taken, and she moved the high court.

"Unfiltered sexual content on TikTok is causing harm to the youth of the country. In July this year, two cases were registered by Mumbai Police against few persons for posting videos on TikTok inciting violence and promoting enmity between religious groups," the petition stated.

The plea is expected to come up for hearing before a division bench this week.

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