Congress MP Shashi Tharoor alleged short video-making social media platform TikTok of illegally collecting data and sharing the same with China. Tharoor described it as an issue of national security while speaking during the Zero Hour in Lok Sabha on Monday.
TikTok, on the other hand, responded to the allegations and denied them saying- “These claims are simply untrue. The privacy and security of our users is a top priority for TikTok, and we abide by local laws and regulations in the markets where we operate.”
Congress MP said that India is vulnerable to data leakage and surveillance due to the absence of a robust comprehensive data protection framework.
In the age of smartphones, apps, social media, and the internet, India is generating mind-boggling data, and it can be exploited by vested interests to engage in profiling, to make profits and for political control, said Tharoor.
“Recently, the federal regulators in the US slapped a fine of $5.7 million on the social media app TikTok on illegally collecting data on children,” added Tharoor. He also claimed that there are reports TikTok shared data with the Chinese government through the wholly state-owned China Telecom.
Tharoor urged the government to enforce a comprehensive legal framework to protect the fundamental right to privacy and save democracy of the country.
However, TikTok claimed that the company “doesn’t operate in the People’s Republic of China and their government has no access to TikTok users’ data, nor does it have any existing partnership with China Telecom.”
The platform also stated that “our Indian users’ data is stored in the United States and Singapore at industry-leading third-party data centers.”
To recall, Beijing-based social media app was banned in India in the month of April after social activist Muthu Kumar alleged that TikTok allowed ‘pornographic’ content and has the potential of exposing children to sexual predators.
The company responded by removing 6 million such videos that didn’t comply with its community guidelines but the government banned the app anyway. The ban was lifted a few days later.
TikTok has around 200 million users in India.
