(TibetanReview.net, Nov14’23) – Banned in India as a threat to national security and in at least 34 US states for federal and state employees amid criticisms from Beijing, China’s TikTok had been delivered the same fate in Nepal on Nov 13 but for a different reason. The country said social harmony and goodwill were being disturbed by “misuse” of the popular video app and there was rising demand to control it.
TikTok has already been either partially or completely banned by other countries, with many citing security concerns, noted Reuters Nov 13.
As communicated by Rekha Sharma, the government’s spokesperson and Minister of Communication and Information Technology, the decision to shut down TikTok was reached during a cabinet meeting held today, reported english.khabarhub.com Nov 13.
“The cabinet meeting held today decided to discontinue TikTok due to concerns about its impact on social harmony,” the report quoted the minister as saying.
The Minister has emphasized that the decision to cease TikTok’s operations would be implemented promptly, with the Ministry of Communications overseeing the closure process.
“While the technical aspects of shutting down TikTok may take some time to finalize, the decision itself is effective immediately,” the minister has affirmed.
More than 1,600 TikTok-related cybercrime cases had been registered over the last four years in Nepal, said the Reuters report, citing local media reports.
Nepal Telecom Authority Chair Purushottam Khanal has said that internet service providers had been asked to close the app.
“Some have already closed while others are doing it later today,” Khanal has told Reuters.
Meanwhile, a joint statement issued by approximately 30 organizations, including the Digital Freedom Coalition, Digital Rights Nepal, Center for Media Research, and the Informal Sector Service Center (INSEC) characterized the government’s action as untimely and arbitrary, reported english.khabarhub.com Nov 14.
It was not clear what triggered the ban or if TikTok had refused to comply with Nepal’s requests. The company did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment, said the AP Nov 13.
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TikTok has previously said such bans are “misguided” and that they are based on “misconceptions” although it is yet to respond to Nepal’s decision.
Nepal’s neighbour India banned TikTok along with dozens of other apps by Chinese developers in Jun 2020, saying that they could compromise national security and integrity. China strongly criticized those bans.
But then, China’s all-weather friend Pakistan also banned the app at least four times over what the country’s government terms its “immoral and indecent” content, the Reuters report noted.
China has criticized countries that have banned TikTok or the social media App WeChat on national security grounds. Most recently, when Canada banned WeChat from government devices, citing security risks, China’s Foreign Ministry condemned the country severely.
“China strongly opposes Canada’s latest ban on Chinese social media app WeChat on government-issued mobile devices, and urges the Canadian side to discard ideological prejudice, abide by economic principles and provide fair, just and non-discriminative business environment for Chinese companies, China official globaltimes.cn Oct 31 quoted Wang Wenbin, a spokesperson from the Foreign Ministry, as saying at a press briefing.
Canada had earlier banned TikTok also from government devices on Feb 27, 2023, citing security risks.