New Delhi, July 23: The wildly popular short video-sharing app TikTok has reportedly removed as many as 60 lakh clips from its platform for violating content guidelines in India. The action by TikTok comes at a time when the Indian government has served a notice to the Chinese app seeking its response to 24 questions regarding the alleged misuse of their platforms for "anti-national activities".

"As part of commitment towards providing a positive in-app environment, we have removed over 60 lakh videos since July 2018 for violating our 'community guidelines'," Sachin Sharma, Director (Sales and Partnerships) at TikTok India, was quoted by Times of India as saying. According to Beijing Bytedance Technology Co, the parent company of TikTok, the app has over 20 crore users (downloads) in India. TikTok Ban in India Lifted by Madras High Court, Chinese App Free For Download.

After an RSS-affiliated Swadeshi Jagran Manch wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi alleging that TikTok and Helo apps are being used for anti-national and illegal activities, the Ministry of Electronics and IT (Meity) sent a notice to them with a set of 24 questions. The ministry warned that they might face a ban if they didn't submit appropriate responses by July 22. Tamil Nadu Government in Favour of Banning TikTok.

Meity has sought a reply from TikTok and Helo on the allegation that these platforms have become “a hub of anti-national activities”, and has sought assurance that the data of Indian users are not being transferred and will not be transferred in future “to any other foreign government or any third party or private entity”, sources had told PTI.

Meity also asked TikTok and Helo about excessive data collected by them, number and kind of information sought by law enforcement agencies, employees and offices they have in India, details of charges and outcome of investigation by the UK Information Commission against TikTok, and if minors are prevented from watching content with “risk warning tag”, the sources added.

Reacting to the Centre's notice, Sharma said TikTok doesn't endorse or promote content that is in violation of our community guidelines. India is one of the strongest markets for TikTok and Helo. TikTok was briefly banned in India earlier.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jul 23, 2019 09:33 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).