Pakistan bans TikTok again – Here are the countries where TikTok is available

Pakistan has once again blocked access to TikTok in the country for its failure to remove "inappropriate content", taking down the popular Chinese short video-sharing app --the fourth time in recent months. Last year in October, the PTA for the first time banned TikTok after receiving complaints regarding indecent and immoral content but lifted the ban after just 10 days. This is the fourth time that the government has interrupted blocked or suspended TikTok's services in the country.

In January 2020, the Indian government said it was banning 59 apps developed by Chinese firms, including TikTok, over concerns that these apps were engaging in activities that threatened the national security and defence of the country. The development comes several months after the government had first banned Chinese apps temporarily in June in the previous year.

TikTok operates in countries including the United States, U.K, France, Germany, Singapore, Indonesia, South Korea and Japan. The United States is one of TikTok's biggest markets, with major hubs in Mountain View, California, Los Angeles, New York and Austin, Texas.

Two US appeals courts recently dismissed the Justice's Department's legal challenges to court rulings that barred a Trump-era effort to ban new downloads of Chinese-owned video-sharing app TikTok.

A Sensortower report showed that TikTok was the "most downloaded and highest grossing non-game app globally in the first half of 2021". The short-video app reached nearly 383 million first-time installs and an estimated $919.2 million in consumer spending, the Sensortower blog reads.