TikTok site briefly appears in India as app remains blocked

The brief reappearance of TikTok’s website in India has reignited questions about the platform’s future in the country, even as the app itself remains blocked. While some Indian users reported being able to load the TikTok domain, officials and the company reiterated that there has been no official relaunch or unblocking of the app, underscoring that the ban imposed in 2020 remains in effect.

Since June 2020, TikTok has been among a group of Chinese-origin apps blocked by the Indian government amid concerns over data privacy, national security and the potential for harm to public order. The government’s action was part of a wider policy move that targeted dozens of apps on grounds that they were prejudicial to India’s sovereignty and security. The ban has persisted for more than five years, despite a thaw in broader Indo-Chinese diplomatic relations in recent months.

In the latest developments, TikTok’s website surfaced on some networks and devices, with reports indicating that certain subpages were not fully functional. Observers cautioned that a website appearing is not the same as restoring full operations, and the app remains unavailable on both the Google Play Store and...