The move came after India decided to retain its ban on TikTok and 58 other Chinese apps following responses from the companies on issues such as compliance and privacy. The ban dates from last year when political tension between the neighbours rose over their disputed border.

“We initially hoped that this situation would be short-lived…we find that has not been the case,” ByteDance wrote in the memo to staff in India, seen by Reuters. “We simply cannot responsibly stay fully staffed while our apps remain un-operational…we don’t know when we will make a comeback in India.”

In a statement, Tiktok said it was disappointing that despite its efforts it had not received a clear direction on how and when its apps could be re-instated. “It is deeply regretful that after supporting our 2,000-plus employees in India for more than half a year, we have no choice but to scale back the size of our workforce,” it said, but gave no further specifics.

At the time of last year’s ban, the Indian government described the apps as “prejudicial to sovereignty and integrity of India”. The move followed a skirmish with Chinese troops at a disputed Himalayan border site that killed 20 Indian troops.

TikTok had committed to spending $1 billion in the region. Before the ban, it had become one of the fastest-growing social media apps in India, once its largest market in terms of users.

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Amid mounting pressure and crisis, ByteDance, owner of TikTok has now decided to relocate from Beijing to London. The new move from TikTok will surely upset Donald Trump, as he is very much keen to ban the application from the US soon.

According to a report published in the Sun, ByteDance has finalized this decision, and they have even received a green signal from the British government, headed by Boris Johnson.

This recent move of TikTok is to assure everyone that they are no longer under the thumb of the Chinese state, and if they succeed in relocating to London, countries like India will be compelled to lift the ban of the application.

In the meantime, Microsoft had revealed that they are continuing talks with ByteDance to acquire TikTok. Even though there are no updates regarding the progress of these negotiations, it has been learned that Microsoft is apparently planning to conclude the talks by September 15.

Kevin Mayer, CEO of TikTok had several times revealed that they are not a part of any political agenda. He has also made it clear that the ultimate aim of his company is to create a vibrant and dynamic platform for everyone to enjoy.

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The ByteDance-owned Chinese app has expressed their concern and said they will exist Hong Kong in a few days owing to the fear that the new law could force them to comply with China’s harsh censorship standards. This move has been taken to possibly avoid sharing user’s data with the government.

Google, Facebook, and Twitter have already made a similar move by stop sharing user’s data with the Hong Kong government in view of rising privacy and security threats.

Meanwhile, TikTok has long been arguing that it never shares data with the Chinese government, the new Hong Kong law would have undermined the company’s case if it continued to operate in the region.

Last week, India banned TikTok alongside 59 other Chinese apps amid increasing tensions between the countries.

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According to various media reports, Pompeo told a leading US news channel that “it’s something we’re looking at.”

The move comes amidst tensions between China and the US on a range of issues. The top US diplomat has led Trump administration officials in criticising Beijing for a lack of transparency and disinformation campaign on the coronavirus since it emerged in the central Chinese city of Wuhan.

US experts had called for the ban on Tik Tok citing the handling of user data and threats posing to national security. Tik Tok owned by the Chinese company Bytedance, has been trying to solve the issues by disassociation with their origin country. Australia also has been vocal about the need to ban Chinese social media apps.

India had banned Tik Tok along with 58 other Chinese apps after the border clash between India and China at Galwan Valley.

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