Guwahati: TikTok may make a comeback in India soon as its parent company ByteDance has filed a trademark for the short-form video app with the Controller General of Patents, Designs and Trade Marks. It was among the 59 Chinese apps that the government banned in June last year. Shortly after the ban, the TikTok app was pulled from app stores and became inaccessible on Indian networks. Platforms including Facebook’s Instagram, however, integrated a similar experience that was originally available on TikTok to fill its gap for Indian users.
There is no official word from the company as of yet. However, an online report cited a ByteDance source who said that the company is keen to resume operations in India after the introduction of new IT rules. Since TikTok’s ban, many tech companies like Instagram, Youtube and Snapchat have released their own short video platforms in form of Reels, Shorts, and Spotlight.
Despite its ban in India, TikTok remains popular worldwide. It has recently been downloaded more than three billion times around the world. According to new Sensor Tower data, TikTok is the fifth non-game app to ever surpass the three billion install mark. The only other apps to have reach more than three billion downloads since January 2014 are Facebook and its WhatsApp, Messenger, and Instagram.
