MUMBAI: Ban popular video sharing app

as it is harming young minds, a public interest litigation has urged the Bombay High Court.

Filed last week by Heena Darvesh, a mother of three minor children, her petition claims the app is “affecting young people’s minds, more specifically children, by causing them addiction issues leading to degraded mental health.”

TikTok was launched in 2017 and has more than 200 million users, the PIL stated.

Darvesh has alleged Tik-Tok has caused innumerable accidents and deaths and even stoked enmity among religious groups. “In July 2019, two FIRs were filed in Mumbai following a controversial video/ audio that sparked religious enmity,” the PIL adds.

She said a PIL was filed in the Madras High Court last year seeking a ban on the app for its pornographic content and its potential to expose children to sexual predators. Complaints were made last month to several authorities to ban the app. However, since no action was taken, she moved the HC. The PIL will come up for hearing in due course.