For last several months, online game Player's Unknown Battlegrounds (PUBG) Mobile has been making news for both its rising popularity and also the ill effects on young children, as many have become addicted and neglecting studies in India. Already, Gujarat government has enforced the ban on PUBG Mobile in school premises, and also other schools across India are have started sensitising parents to look afterwards and control the screen time on mobiles.
Amid the PUBG Mobile uproar, another addictive smartphone app Tik Tok has come under scrutiny in India. The government of Tamil Nadu, the southern state of India has urged prohibition of Tik Tok for spreading vulgarity and ruining traditional culture.
Nagapattinam's Thamimun Ansari, Member of Legislative Assembly (MLA) of ruling party All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) during a debate at Tamil Nadu legislative assembly (Fort St George) said TikTok was degrading Indian culture, encourages pornography and also causing law and order problem in the state. As the people's representative, it's their responsibility to ban such nefarious mobile app, Ansari added.
Several sections of people are asking for a ban on Tik Tik and we will urge Central government to take action similar to the prohibition of suicidal online game Blue Whale challenge, Ansari noted.
For the uninitiated, Tik Tok is one of the most installed mobile apps on both Apple iOS and Google's Android platforms. It has more than a billion active users across the world. The main attraction of Tik Tok is that it allows users to broadcast video bytes with popular background music, a movie dialogue, graphics animation and several other features.
But, the problem with Tik Tok is that several adolescents have taken to likening vulgar music and dance to it, often cringe-worthy. There is no proper guideline to control acts depicting sexual innuendoes.
Also, in late 2018, there was an absurd Nillu Nillu challenge on TikTok app that involved individual or a group of people jumping in front of a moving vehicle carrying leaves in their hand and wearing a helmet. The participants then dance for the tune of the song 'Nillu Nillu Nee Ente Neela Kuyile' in Kerala. This apparently led to mobs blocking buses just to make this video on Tik Tok and become famous.
It remains to be seen if Tik Tok would face ban at least in school premises or if government enforce an age limit for such apps.
