In June 2020, India banned the hugely popular Chinese app TikTok, along with dozens of other Chinese apps, following a military clash along the India-China border that resulted in the deaths of twenty Indian and four Chinese soldiers. The government cited privacy concerns and the threat that Chinese apps posed to India's sovereignty and security as the reason for the ban. The move was widely supported in India, where there had been calls for a boycott of Chinese goods since the deadly confrontation.

At the time of the ban, India had about 200 million TikTok users, the most outside of China, and the company also employed thousands of Indians. Content creators and users in India had to find alternative platforms after the ban, with many migrating to Instagram and YouTube Shorts. While some users missed the unique hyperlocal content that TikTok provided, they were able to build up followers and continue earning money on other platforms.

In contrast to India's swift ban on TikTok, the U.S. is now considering a similar measure to outlaw the app. The legislation has won congressional approval and awaits President Biden's signature. The measure would give ByteDance, TikTok's parent company, nine months to sell the app, with three more months if a sale is underway. If a sale does not happen, TikTok will be banned in the U.S. It could take at least a year before a ban goes into effect, with potential court challenges prolonging the process.

Digital policy expert Nikhil Pahwa noted that the situation in the U.S. is different from India, as TikTok decided not to go to court in India but may do so in the U.S. due to the larger revenue market. Pahwa emphasized the need for countries to assess their dependency on Chinese apps and develop ways to reduce it, as these apps can pose a national security risk. TikTok is also banned in Pakistan, Nepal, and Afghanistan, and restricted in many countries in Europe due to concerns about Chinese intelligence and cybersecurity laws. Pahwa suggested that democratic countries should have different rules for handling Chinese apps compared to authoritarian regimes where companies may act as extensions of the state.