Once envied for being the fastest-growing and perhaps the most-popular social media app in India, TikTok - the crown jewel in embattled Chinese internet giant Byte-Dance’s portfolio - is shutting down operations in the country. Faced with a government ban that was originally ordered last June, which turned into a ‘permanent’ clampdown last week, ByteDance - which ran another popular, and now banned, app Helo - has decided to scale down India business and slash manpower.
Beijing accused New Delhi of repeatedly using national security as an excuse to “prohibit some mobile apps with Chinese background” and that it opposed India’s actions that violated WTO rules.
Not clear when will our apps be offered
As you can imagine, a decision of this magnitude is not easy… (but) we simply cannot responsibly stay fully staffed while our apps remain un-operational,” Vanessa Pappas, the company’s interim global head, said in a communication to the employees. Only a small team, comprising mostly legal and government affairs professionals, is likely to be retained even as regular operations, which included sales and content moderation members, would be halted in India.
TikTok, the short videosharing app, shared the “difficult decisions” with its India team of nearly 2,000 as it laid off many of them. “We regret that this was the result of a lack of clear direction from the government of India on how and when our apps could be reinstated. Despite our efforts to communicate with them, especially as it impacts the careers and livelihoods of so many Indians, today we are forced to reduce the size of our team,” the global executives said.
The company, which is among the over 250 Chinese apps banned in India over concerns around national security and data privacy of users, said the closure has been “forced” despite adherence to local laws and regulations. “We initially hoped that this situation would be short-lived, and that we would be able to resolve this quickly. Seven months later, we find that has not been the case.”
