TikTok is a name that is widely recognized. It is a widely popular and extremely trending short-video platform owned by the renowned Chinese tech giant ByteDance. The app has taken the world by storm since its big launch back in 2016. However, speculations arose when Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi visited India and met with Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, Indian Foreign Minister on August 16, 2025. It seems to portray the possibility of TikTok’s potential return to India after a five-year ban. The news has caused attention to spark amongst several, with many wondering the reasons for its possible comeback and ban. 

This article will explore the potential return of the TikTok app and the TikTok ban update and the facts behind this news.

What is the TikTok app?

TikTok is a social media platform that was launched by the Chinese giant, ByteDance. The app was originally named ‘Douyin’ before being renamed to TikTok. The app was launched in September 2016 and included a lot of amenities, but specifically catered to users who wanted to create, share, and discover short-form videos that typically had a duration ranging from 15 seconds to 3 minutes. 

TikTok was considered extremely popular, especially for its wide range of activities that looked like dance challenges to lip-syncing, comedy sketches,and even educational snippets – thus making it quite addictive. 

By 2020, the app had managed to amass over 2 billion downloads! India alone accounted for over 200 million users before its ban in the same year.

It is known for being addictive, and with bite-sized content. However, the popularity was cut down to its long-term case with controversies, leading to its ban in India’s markets and threats of prohibition in the United States.

Why was TikTok banned in India and in the US?

India Ban (2020):

 In June 2020, TikTok was banned in India along with 58 other Chinese apps, including WeChat, Shareit, AliExpress, Alibaba Workbench, WeChat, PUBG MOBILE Nordic Map: Livik, AppLock and other such names with the major reason being cited as national security and data privacy concerns. This came after the deadly India-China border clash in the Galwan Valley. The Indian government was concerned about the user data being transmitted to the Chinese servers causing potential espionage under China’s national security and laws. 

The ban came under Section 69A of the IT Act, which went on to become a permanent ban in January 2021.

Effect:  

The effect of the ban was quite serious and grave – especially since India alone accounted for over 200 million users. The ban led to the launch and rise of local alternative apps like Moj and Chingari and then later Instagram Reels and YouTube Shorts. 

USA Ban Threat (Ongoing): 

In the United States, TikTok has been facing strict scrutiny since 2020 – primarily over the reasons of national security and data privacy concerns that are similar to those in India. The U.S. government, under the leadership of both the President Donald Trump and Biden administrations, has indeed expressed its worry that ByteDance – the parent company – would be compelled by the Chinese Government to share sensitive user data. These concerns were only amplified by the massive user base and its culture and information. 

Effect:

Although a lot of American users are affected, they aren’t quite as affected by the ban as India was. However, Instagram Reels and YouTube Shorts grew in popularity post the ban.

The Real Buzz about TikTok’s Comeback to India

On 22nd August 2025, social media platforms – mostly Twitter (now known as X) had an eruption of speculations, and questions about TikTok’s return to India after a five-year ban.

Users have reported accessing the app without a VPN, which is quite surprising. However, it remained unavailable to download on the Google Play Store and Apple App Store. 

Other users found that the website displayed messages saying that the services of the app weren’t available in the respective country or region, which fueled partial excitement amongst fans and creators alike.

This led to several users posting hopeful wishes about the full relaunch.

The impeccable thing about this was the timing – this speculation coincidentally – or not coincidentally – was at the same time of the warming up of India-China relations.

Recent developments like the Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi’s visit to New Delhi and India’s Prime Minister, Narendra Modi’s planned meeting at the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation Summit, which is yet to be held from 31st August to 1st September, hinted at the fact that there might be better relations.

In addition to this, China has lifted the export restrictions on items like fertilizers and rare earth minerals to India and even discussed matters like resuming direct flights and easing the visa restrictions.

What did the Indian Prime Minister say about this?

Although there have been some claims about the potential return of the trending app, there is no actual evidence of a specific statement given by Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressing the comeback in August 2025. 

Some reports and social media posts on X have even suggested that Modi’s impending visit to China with the intention of improving India-China ties could certainly pave the way for TikTok’s ultimate comeback.

 However, although this might sound promising, these claims are highly speculative as there hasn’t been any official statement from Narendra Modi or his office regarding the comeback or change in policy regarding TikTok.

Contrary to some claims, there is no direct evidence of a specific statement from Prime Minister Narendra Modi explicitly addressing TikTok’s comeback in August 2025. Some media reports and posts on X suggested that Modi’s upcoming visit to China and the broader context of improving India-China ties could pave the way for TikTok’s return. However, these claims appear speculative, as no official statement from the Prime Minister’s Office or Modi himself has confirmed any change in policy regarding TikTok.

Is the Comeback News actually true or just a hoax?

Both ByteDance and the Indian Authorities have debunked the excitement over TikTok’s potential comeback. A spokesperson from TikTok had clarified to TechGuru that the workers from the app have not restored access to TikTok India and continue to comply with the Government of India’s directive.

A senior official from MeitY spoke anonymously about the Section 69 ban and that it shall remain intact, and that the government hasn’t ‘unblocked or done anything’ to allow the return of the app. 

Where the brief accessibility was concerned, this was a network-level configuration in the form of a technical glitch rather than being a proper and intentional unblocking.

A similar incident had occurred back in September 2022, wherein some internet service providers had accidentally unblocked TikTok and other such sites that had been banned during a patch application. 

By 23rd August, which was a Saturday, the website home page had already become inaccessible once again for most users, thus confirming the glitch theory and explanation.

Why this speculation is still ongoing : Know the Updates

There have been clarifications that specify that TikTok isn’t coming back but the speculations still somehow persist due to the cultural and economic significance in India.

Before the TikTok was banned in 2020, TikTok was considered a popular platform for millions of creators, and several users from smaller towns used this platform to gain fame and quick income. The sudden absence ended up leaving a large void, and the prospect. 

The partial success of other Chinese apps like SHEIN (rebranded as SHEIN India Fast Fashion) and Xender, re-entering India after the negotiations with the government, has sparked up interest and fueled hope in the users that ByteDance would probably end up following suit but unfortunately is not the case – the attempts to partner up with local firms like the Hiranandani Group in 2022 have not been a successful venture for ByteDance. 

Conclusion

The recent buzz around TikTok’s possible comeback – especially after a 5-year hiatus – has been called out for being a false alarm, which had been triggered by a technical glitch and not a policy. The Indian government and ByteDance have both confirmed the same, and that the ban that was imposed in 2020 over national security and data privacy concerns remains a major topic of interest. Despite the fact that the relations between India and China are indefinitely getting better, the re-entry of the Chinese apps do have some future and hope for TikTok’s future, but no official steps have been taken to lift the ban. 

In other words, the future of the app is quite uncertain both in India and US, and it already is facing a ban deadline in the latter – thus highlighting the challenges that ByteDance might face in dealing with geopolitical tensions. For now, Indians are forced to rely on alternatives like Instagram Reels and YouTube Shorts, whereas only just hoping that their favorite video-platform app will return someday.

FAQs

Refresh Date: August 26, 2025