Tik-Tok App. Should be Banned in India

Tik-Tok App. Should be Banned in India

Many of us know that Tik Tok app has potential to corrupt immature minds but very few might know that this application can also become a threat to our national security. It is evident that there are many suicide attempts by youth and adolescent children where Tik-Tok was the main reason behind the incident. Suicide is an extreme step but there is much higher psychological vulnerability associated with the uncontrolled usage of this application, these psychological disorders are not only limited to oneself but can also make an individual hurt others. If we allow the usage of this application then we are making our future generation psychologically parallelized and giving our valuable data at the mercy of china.

Tik Tok can lead to Psychological disorders and Suicide

We all know that social media is very involving and no doubt it has brought forth a kind of information revolution in the world, as every new discovery has pros and cons  so is the case with social media also. Till the time we use social media to share our thoughts or communicate that’s ok but when the involvement in social media increases to an extent that it starts detaching us from the real world then it comes under the category of psychological disorder where attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), anxiety, and depression are common. In case of Tik-Tok the risk is very high because of a hidden human desire to become popular although this desire can be fueled by any social media platform  for example youTube, but  you need to do something really productive to become popular in other applications but  on Tik-Tok a stupid act can make any individual popular. This Tik-Tok  app. Makes use of same human psychology and promotes you to play stupid acts and more stupid you can be more popular you might become. For youth it’s comparatively easier to behave stupid rather than doing something really productive and that’s the reason for the popularity of this application. Once the quest for cheap popularity is ignited it keeps making the brain dependent on the same. This can lead to a deep routed psychological disorder which can lead to depression and suicide attempts. Suicide is an extreme condition but many others who do not lead to such condition also suffer from anxiety and depression. There was one case where a youth was found torturing an animal and he published that video as if he did some heroic act.

Psychological disorders and suicide attempts is only one side of the story but there are other bitter facts associated with this application also, and unknowingly children, youth and adolescent individuals are exposing themselves to accidents associated with stupid acts, cyber-bullying, vulgarity and obscenity. 

Tik Tok can be threat to individual and national security

A China-based company called Byte Dance acquired Musically app and merged it into TikTok. This deal was not approved by US authorities as Tik-Tok didn’t explicitly request for approval but loopholes in FDI rules left no room for action post acquisition. Tik-Tok stores your physical whereabouts, your IP address, various details about your device and more. The company shares this information with advertisers or business partners. Since Tik-Tok is owned by a Chinese company, the US government is concerned and even Indian Government should be concerned that ByteDance collects their citizens’ information and stores it in China. China is known for strict laws on handing out users’ browsing information to the government. The newest reports show Tik-Tok had multiple security flaws. Serious vulnerabilities are found with this application that could let hackers steal your Tik-Tok account. Once hacked, even your mobile camera can be used by a remote location to click pictures.

Indians launched a campaign against Tik-Tok Application

Indians are aware of these issues with Tik-Tok and that’s the reason why many volunteers and organizations are spreading awareness against this app. through various social media campaigns. There is also a signature campaign going on https://www.change.org/tik-tok-ban and many individuals are participating.This campaign is reaching every nook and corner of the country.

Few experts are of opinion that by using some internet security applications we can secure our mobile phones and secure our database but we need to understand that no matter what you do if you are installing this application you have to give certain permissions to this application after installation without which this application wouldn’t work, once these permissions are given regarding usage of your phonebook, messages and camera all your controls are handed over to this application. I strongly suggest that a legal way need to be found out to completely ban this application in India and that can’t be possible without the will of people. We only need to put continuous efforts and experts will find out ways to do the same. Government can also ask Google to list out this application from the android and IOS play store, I think now the time has come where Government should plan to install a firewall on Indian internet which can filter out these useless applications and also filter out all browsers like onion which give access to dark web and all pornographic sites in the country. We want our nation to become a better place although economic growth is important but, economically prosperous but psychologically ill brains cannot make a better society.  

Pradeep Mahaur