Is TikTok coming back to India? After the clarification on the glitch that opened up TikTok for a brief moment in India, it has been made clear that the ByteDance-owned short video app is not coming back to India anytime soon. The Indian authorities and Bytedance had clarified that the app continues to remain banned in the country for the time being. However, TikTok has opened up hiring for its Indian office.
In what is seen as a shocking update, TikTok India has begun hiring for several key positions in its Gurgaon office. The job postings, which appeared on professional networking sites like LinkedIn, have led many to believe that the government may be considering lifting the ban, which was imposed in 2020 during the rise of the geopolitical tensions between India and China.
TikTok hiring for new roles in India
Job openings posted by Bytedance include roles such as “Content Moderator (Bengali Speaker)” and “Wellbeing Partnership and Operations Lead” at its Gurgaon-based office. The hiring drive, which comes after the company’s website recently became accessible again in India, has fueled optimism among its former users and employees.

However, government officials have quickly moved to contain these rumors. Sources within the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology have confirmed that the ban remains in effect and no orders have been issued to unblock the app. The company’s app is still unavailable for download on both the Google Play Store and the Apple App Store in India. The Ministry has also labeled any reports of the app being accessible again as “false and misleading.”
Will TikTok eventually return to India?
The ban, which was originally imposed in June 2020 on 59 mobile apps, including TikTok, was a result of concerns that these apps were “prejudicial to India’s sovereignty, security, and public order.” At the time, officials cited examples of data leakage to servers in China as a primary reason for the nationwide ban.
The ban of TikTok led to the rise of several local players in the short video player category. However, it was Meta’s Instagram Reels that made the most out of the occasion, becoming the top source of the latest and trending short video trends in the country. Unlike other platforms, Reels’ integration with Instagram helped it garner widespread popularity.
While the new hiring activity suggests that TikTok India could be preparing for a potential return to the country, its future still remains uncertain, considering the complex regulatory approvals. The improvement in relations between India and China has brought new hopes for Bytedance to work with the local administration and potentially figure out a way to make it work in India again.
Will TikTok invest in local data servers, like Krafton’s BGMI, to bring back its service to India? Only time will tell.