iWorld
India’s freeze on bank accounts is harassment, ByteDance tells court
New Delhi: Video sharing app TikTok's parent company,ByteDance has told the Bombay high court that the government's decision to freeze its bank accounts in a probe of possible tax evasion amounts to harassment and was done illegally, Reuters reported on Sunday.
The Chinese technology company had reduced its Indian workforce in January amid uncertainty over its future business in the country and its short-lived foray into one of the biggest markets. The decision came months after the government announced a ban on its popular video app TikTok which had amassed hundreds of millions of users in India. The ban was announced following a border clash between India and China.
Reuters had reported that an Indian tax intelligence unit had ordered HSBC and Citibank in Mumbai to freeze bank accounts of ByteDance India in March, as part of its probe of the company’s financial dealings. The Chinese firm challenged the freeze in Bombay high court. The court declined to grant ByteDance immediate relief last Wednesday and listed the case for next hearing on 6 April.
ByteDance India also told the court it has a 1,335-strong workforce, including outsourced personnel, and the account freeze has impacted the release of their March salaries. In the 209-page court filing lodged on 25 March accessed by Reuters, the Chinese company told the court that the "authorities acted against the company without any material evidence and gave no prior notice, as required by Indian law, before such drastic action". It further added, that “blocking accounts during the process of investigation amounts (to) applying undue coercion. It is intended, improperly, to harass the petitioner.”
The Beijing-headquartered company is also facing global scrutiny over TikTok’s data collection practices.
iWorld
X launches XChat messaging app on iOS with calls and encryption
Standalone app marks shift from “everything app” vision, adds E2E messaging.
MUMBAI: From one big app to many small chats, X seems to be splitting its ambitions. X has rolled out its standalone messaging app, XChat, to iOS users, opening up a new front in its evolving product strategy. The app allows users to connect with existing X contacts through private and group messages, file sharing, as well as audio and video calls. The launch follows a limited beta phase, where the platform tested the product with a smaller user base to refine the experience. Now available publicly, XChat marks a notable pivot from earlier ambitions championed by Elon Musk to turn X into a single “everything app” combining messaging, payments, commerce and more.
Instead, the company under xAI ownership and backed by SpaceX appears to be building a suite of standalone applications, each targeting specific use cases while expanding its broader ecosystem.
At launch, XChat includes end-to-end encrypted messaging, PIN-based access, disappearing messages, and features such as message editing, deletion for all participants, and screenshot blocking. The company has also said the app is free from advertisements and tracking mechanisms, positioning it as a privacy-first alternative in a crowded messaging space.
However, security claims around the platform are likely to face scrutiny. Earlier iterations of XChat drew criticism from experts who argued it fell short of established encrypted platforms like Signal. With the wider rollout, the app is expected to undergo fresh evaluation to assess whether those concerns have been addressed.
Beyond messaging, XChat will also house X’s Communities feature, which is being discontinued on the main platform due to low usage and spam concerns. Migrating these users could provide an early boost to adoption, effectively turning XChat into both a communication and community hub.
The move underscores a broader recalibration at X less about cramming everything into one app, and more about spreading bets across multiple touchpoints, one message at a time.
