Centre, 5 state govts for ban on TikTok, Helo; 2 more may join in
It is open season on short-video platform TikTok and social media portal Helo, both owned by Chinese tech major Bytedance, with at least five state governments, as well as the Centre, gunning for a ban on them. According to sources, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Maharashtra, West Bengal and Gujarat are planning to ban the apps. The governments of Punjab and Karnataka are likely to follow suit. Senior officials in the information technology (IT) ministry said that officials from Maharashtra, Gujarat, as well as Telangana, had “informally” got in touch with them to understand various ways to either curtail the usage of TikTok or ban it. According to sources, these states are alarmed by the rising use of the app in smaller towns and hinterland, where it is increasingly being used for spreading hate messages and child pornography. While the company has said that it is monitoring the app to prevent such incidents and cooperating with the authorities, the state governments believe banning