TikTok to cut jobs in India after ban extends

General view of the TikTok building, in Culver City, California on November 17, 2020. Pic/AFP

About seven months after facing a ban in India, short video-sharing platform TikTok on Wednesday said it would scale down the size of its workforce constituting over 2,000 employees in the country.

TikTok featured among the 59 Chinese apps that the government has decided to permanently ban, and was one of the most popular.

The development came several months after the government had first banned Chinese apps temporarily in last June.

"We have worked steadfastly to comply with the Government of India order issued on June 29, 2020. We continually strive to make our apps comply with local laws and regulations and do our best to address any concerns they have," a TikTok spokesperson said in a statement.

"It is therefore disappointing that in the ensuing seven months, despite our efforts we have not been given a clear direction on how and when our apps could be reinstated," the spokesperson said.

The Indian government initially banned nearly 59 Chinese apps including TikTok, WeChat and UC Browser and Xiaomi's Mi Community over national security concerns as India-China bilateral relations remain strained after the death of 20 Indian soldiers in the Galwan Valley clash with Chinese PLA troops in eastern Ladakh.

"It is deeply regretful that after supporting our 2000+ employees in India for more than half a year, we have no choice but to scale back the size of our workforce," the TikTok spokesperson said.

Owned by Chinese unicorn ByteDance, TikTok said it looks "forward to receiving the opportunity to relaunch TikTok and support the hundreds of millions of users, artists, story-tellers, educators and performers in India."

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