TikTok has stopped working in India even on VPN

Using a Virtual Proxy Network or VPN will seemingly not let you access TikTok in India. Many have taken to Twitter and other social media platforms to confirm that VPN services like Nord VPN and Express VPN are not allowing users to circumvent the ban. A VPN app allows you to mask your IP address and trick the internet into believing you're accessing a website from another country. It allows you to access region-restricted websites in a safe and secure way. 

Essentially the only way to access TikTok in India now — if you already have had it on your phone — is to either have a rooted phone that lets you change your device ID, or do a factory reset. https://t.co/dGdldv2x2t

— Aroon Deep | Cogito ergo summa scene-u (@AroonDeep) June 30, 2020

Some users say that they are unable to access TikTok using a VPN, while some others are reporting no issues in accessing the banned app. We tried accessing the TikTok mobile app using a VPN service to no success. However, we were able to access the platform through the web browser on our laptop using a VPN.

it looks like TikTok is blocking by device ID. if you have logged on tiktok before from a phone in india, it might not work anymore.

i took out an old phone, got behind a vpn and google play is showing me tiktok in the store and tiktok works 🙂@AroonDeep @nixxin

— Surinderxx (@surinderxx) June 30, 2020

It is being speculated that TikTok is being blocked by device ID and IP address. This means that even if you mask your IP, the app won't work if your device ID has been registered with TikTok previously. One way to bypass this as per some people is to install TikTok using a VPN on a brand new device or after rooting or resetting your exiting device.

We will update this story once we get more clarity on how the ban is being enforced in India.