Despite the ban, TikTok did just fine in expanding around the world, while national and international tech companies rushed to fill the Indian void, in the process transforming th

TikTok faced a similar ban in India nearly five years ago, as it now does in the US. An executive order issued by then-US President Donald Trump also referred to India’s ban in 2020.

TikTok has around 170 million US users which generated a revenue of around $7bn for the company in 2024 and was estimated to generate around $9bn in 2025

India’s 2020 crackdown helped give rise to Instagram Reels, which has largely replaced it there. But TikTok has proved more resilient elsewhere.

TikTok fans in the U.S. are racing to secure alternatives and safeguard their digital empires ahead of a looming shutdown, evoking the chaos of India's 2020 ban that erased the app from the lives of 200 million users overnight.

America's TikTok ban came five years after India blocked the app, citing security reasons. India had said that TikTok, along with 58 other Chinese apps, posed a threat to sovereignty and security of the country.

As the debate around social media governance evolves with TikTok continuing to face criticism and restrictions, here's list of countries that have imposed restrictions on the app.

As governments work on stricter regulations for social media platforms, the fate of TikTok could depend on its ability to address concerns over user data, content moderation, and transparency.

If it feels like TikTok has been around forever, that’s probably because it has, at least if you’re measuring via internet time.

ByteDances valuation of TikTok at an impressive $200 billion presents a considerable challenge for potential buyers.

But TikTok actually faced an even bigger exodus of users in 2020, when India banned the app. At the time, India was TikTok’s biggest foreign market outside of China, with 200 million users.