‘Tik Tok causing cultural degeneration’: Tamil Nadu minister calls for ban on Chinese video app

Calling for a ban on the app, Tamil Nadu MLA Thameemun Ansari drew attention to the unfettered spread of sexually explicit content and morphing of innocent people’s faces, especially women, through the app.

The Tamil Nadu government will take appropriate steps to get the Chinese mobile app ‘Tik Tok’ banned. The app is mostly used by youth to create and share short videos, state minister for information technology M Manikandan told the state assembly on Monday.

TikTok, is a Chinese short-form video-sharing app, which has proved wildly popular this year.(AFP)

The minister was responding to a plea by Thameemun Ansari of Manithaneya Jananayaga Katchi (MJK), who claimed that the younger generation is hooked to the Tik Tok app and is getting pushed on the path of cultural degeneration. He also drew attention to the unfettered spread of sexually explicit content and morphing of innocent people’s faces, especially women, through the app.

Sharing the member’s concern, the minister said the state would take up the issue with the Centre for necessary action.

Tik Tok, which emerged as a popular app among the youth, has also turned out to be a veritable trap for unsuspecting school and college going girls as well as housewives.

Recently, the Chennai police busted a flesh trade racket which used morphed pictures of women downloaded from Tik Tok to lure customers.

In Salem city in the state, police issued advisories to schools and parents to guard against students logging on to the app. This followed large-scale complaints from parents that pictures of schoolgirls on Tik Tok were morphed with erotic content and circulated on the internet. Police have suggested counselling sessions for students at home and in the schools.

Last week, a few students of the Salem Government Arts College were suspended for uploading a video that caricaturised their Tamil lecturer on the lines of noted Tamil film comedian Vadivelu. Last month, some youths were booked by the police in Sivakasi for creating a video that made fun of cops at the police station itself. This, they had done, emulating their film hero in one of his recent movies.

In a tragic instance, a youth who tried to act as if he was committing suicide by slitting his throat for a Tik Tok video, lost his life.

Though there is a bar on those below the age of 12 years from using this app, children are addicted to it. Most of the content released on this is singing and dancing to popular numbers with stimulating body movements.