TikTok Parent ByteDance Says Reducing India Workforce, Unsure of Comeback

China's ByteDance has decided to reduce the size of its India team and is unsure when the company will make a comeback in India, it said in an internal memo to employees on Wednesday.

India has decided to retain its ban on short-form video sharing platform TikTok and 58 other Chinese apps after reviewing responses from the companies on issues such as compliance and privacy.

The apps were banned amid rising tensions between India and China following a border clash between the two nations last year.

"We initially hoped that this situation would be short-lived... we find that has not been the case," ByteDance wrote in an internal memo to staff, seen by Reuters.

"We simply cannot responsibly stay fully staffed while our apps remain un-operational... we don't know when we will make a comeback in India."

In an earlier conversation, sources had told Gadgets 360 that following the ban, the government had asked for responses from all the companies that were banned about the data being collected, and how it was used. It appears that the government was not satisfied with the response, and issued a notice last week, according to reports.

ByteDance issued the following statement to reporters:

“We are evaluating the notice and will respond to it as appropriate. TikTok was among the first companies to comply with the government of India directive issued on June 29, 2020. We continually strive to comply with local laws and regulations and do our best to address any concerns the government may have. Ensuring the privacy and security of all our users remains to be our topmost priority,” a TikTok spokesperson told Mint.

© Thomson Reuters 2021

Does WhatsApp's new privacy policy spell the end for your privacy? We discussed this on Orbital, our weekly technology podcast, which you can subscribe to via Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, or RSS, download the episode, or just hit the play button below.