The popular short video app announced on Wednesday that it will cut employees in India after “not having received clear guidance on how and when our apps could be reinstated”.
“It is deeply regrettable that, after supporting our more than 2,000 employees in India for more than half a year, we have no choice but to reduce the size of our workforce,” a TikTok spokesman said in a statement.
TikTok, which is owned by Beijing’s ByteDance, did not say how many workers would be affected and did not immediately respond to a request for comment for more details.
And although TikTok said this week that “worked hard to comply” with the country’s authorities, such efforts appear to have had little effect.
A source from the Ministry of Electronics and IT told CNN Business on Wednesday that the government this week decided to make the ban permanent because it was not satisfied with the way Chinese companies addressed data collection and security concerns.
“We continually strive to make our applications comply with local laws and regulations and do our best to resolve any concerns they may have,” said the TikTok spokesman. “So it is disappointing that in the next seven months, despite our best efforts, we did not receive clear guidance on how and when our applications could be reinstated.”
The spokesman added that the company hopes that one day the application will be able to return.
Intense tensions
Last August, CEO Daniel Zhang announced that the company had “decided to stop operations” for UC Browser, a web browsing application, and other initiatives in India.
“We don’t expect this to have a material impact on the group’s overall financial performance,” he told analysts during a earnings conference call, citing a “broad business review”.
A UC Browser spokesman declined to comment.
“Tencent complies with all applicable orders and regulations and continues to adhere to applicable laws in the jurisdictions in which we operate. We hope to continue to focus on our main markets and provide valuable services to our users,” said a spokesman. in a statement to CNN Business. The company declined to provide further details.
Ji Rong, a spokesman for the Chinese embassy in India, reiterated China’s opposition to the ban on Wednesday.
“Since last year, the Indian side has repeatedly used national security as an excuse to ban some Chinese-made mobile apps. [are] in violation of non-discriminatory WTO principles, “she said.
Geopolitical tensions between India and China, however, continued to simmer. On Monday, the Indian Army reported that there was a “minor” confrontation between Indian soldiers and the People’s Liberation Army of China.
The incident occurred last Wednesday near a disputed border high in the Himalayas and “was resolved by local commanders according to established protocols,” the Indian Army said in a statement.
– Vedika Sud, Steven Jiang, Rishi Iyengar and Manveena Suri contributed to this report.