Chinese companies are facing a lot of flak in the country since tensions escalated between the two countries, a few weeks back. Most recently, the Indian government banned 59 Chinese apps including popular TikTok video platform. The ban is already in force, and if recent reports are anything to go by, it looks like the application is not accessible despite hiding behind a VPN service.
According to latest reports, using a Virtual Private Network which is usually the last resort for bypassers, doesn’t seem to yield any result. The application remains unusable with the app constantly asking users to check for internet connection.
VPN is a secure way of connecting to another network via the internet. Few instances like accessing apps that are restricted or region-specific could make use of the VPN to bypass the hurdles.
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pic.twitter.com/0DZQ3UcqclJune 30, 2020
While some users are reporting successful resumption of the app via VPN, others tried to access it via the web browser and it worked. That being said, the pointless attempts could be due to the ban being device-specific with the company blocking the device IDs and IP addresses from their database, according to a user on Twitter.
There is a ray of hope if your device is rooted as it will allow you to change your device ID but that's out of the question for normal users. This leaves the only possibility of using it on a new device that didn't have TikTok earlier.
However, this could also lead users to a dead end as the Indian Government has already issued directions to the Internet Service Providers (ISPs) and cellular operators to stop to-and-fro traffic to the service. This means that apps including TikTok are blocked at the server-end and users cannot access it via an internet connection provided by Indian companies.
Tiktok India has come forward to acknowledge the recent developments. Nikhil Gandhi, Head of TikTok said that the company has complied with the orders and has been invited to meet government stakeholders to offer clarifications. He has also assured that TikTok has not shared any data with the Chinese Government and will neither do so in the future either.
