TikTok distances from Beijing in response to India app ban

Social media app TikTok has sought to distance itself from its Chinese roots after India banned it, along with 58 others apps from the country.

In a letter to the Indian government, TikTok Chief Executive Kevin Mayer said no user data had been shared with the Chinese government so far.

"I can confirm that the Chinese government has never made a request to us for the TikTok data of Indian users," he wrote. "If we do ever receive such a request in the future, we would not comply.

"The privacy of our users, and the security and sovereignty of India, are of utmost importance to us. We have already announced our plans to build a data centre in India."

Despite being owned by China's ByteDance, TikTok is not available in the country.