Citing reasons of potential security threat to 1.3 billion of our people, the Indian government on June 29, 2020 has banned 59 Chinese apps which includes widely used apps such as TikTok, Shareit, Beauty Plus, UC Browser, etc. Banning of TikTok does not come as a surprise to many, given its Chinese origin. But, what does it mean for you and me? And how does it affect the future of social media in India?

What is TikTok?

It is a social media application where the users create and share 15 second videos. TikTok, which seems similar to Musical.ly, are actually the same thing. In the year 2017, Musical.ly was purchased by TikTok’s parent company ByteDance. TikTok’s mission is “to enable its users to capture creativity, knowledge and precious moments of people’s lives, just by using their mobile phones”. It enabled everyone to be a creator and express and share one’s creativity through their videos.

Usage and Revenue from India

Approximately 50% of India’s population is a consumer of the Internet. Because of the huge population in India, many corporations eye this market for selling their products. TikTok was no exception. According to data, in 2019 close to 120 million Indians were active users of TikTok - which substantially increased post the lockdown in India - and for every 10 downloads of TikTok on the app store worldwide, ~6 downloads were from India. To date, India has marked ~30% of the lifetime downloads of TikTok. However, given the ban, the app is no longer available for download in India. Recently TikTok reported that its revenue from India was INR 25-35 crore in one quarter alone i.e. between October to December 2019. It had also set a target to earn INR 100 crore rupees for the July to September quarter.

History of TikTok’s ban

This is not the first time TikTok has been banned in India. Earlier in 2019, TikTok was banned in India for a brief period. The Madras High Court ruled that the app be banned for its disturbing content such as pornography, sexual predators and cyberbullying, that the app could expose children to. Given the wide usage of the app in India, especially by teenagers, it was only right that the app be banned. Gravely affected by the ban, TikTok contested the matter in court and the ruling was given in its favour for the reason that it tracked down and removed content that would classify as inappropriate. This resulted in the lifting of the ban on the app. Following the border clash with China, the Ministry of Information Technology on June 29, 2020, has banned TikTok yet again. This time, the reason being the threats it poses to the sovereignty and integrity of the nation. TikTok has been asked to respond and submit clarifications for the same. The company, however, has denied sharing any data of its users with foreign governments.

Effects of the ban

1. Revenue: India being one of the largest consumer markets, the ban comes as a bane to TikTok the second time. As a result of the ban in 2019, TikTok reportedly lost more than INR 35 lakhs ($500,000) per day. The rise in TikTok users in 2020 and the recent ban could only mean that TikTok is set to lose much more.

2. Work/Employment: Following the ban, many content creators are set to lose their massive number of followers. Apart from TikTok losing their revenue, the Indian content creators who were often sponsored by brands for product advertisements, will also lose their source of income.

3. Talent: Given its easy UI, TikTok was used not only by the urban dwellers, but also by people hailing from remote villages. One did not need to have a pleasing aesthetic on their feed to gain followers. Take “Dancer Sanatan” for instance. A simple guy, from a not-so-rich background, hailing from Jharkhand, Dancer Sanatan had over 1 million followers, who followed him for his talent, and not for an aesthetically pleasing feed.

4. Competition: If anything, the ban of TikTok is a blessing for many people, but the one who feels blessed the most is probably Instagram. Instagram, which is backed by Facebook, had already launched “Reels” in Brazil last year, as a competition to TikTok. While there is no confirmation on when Instagram plans to roll out Reels globally, it doesn’t seem like there could be a better time than now, to launch it in India.

5. Parental concerns and disturbing content: The ban has come as a boon for parents who were concerned with the over-usage of the app by their children, especially teenagers. Recently, a fairly well known TikTok content creator received major backlash for the disturbing content relating to acid attack. This resulted in the ban/suspension of his account from the app. Owing to the ban, people can now heave a sigh of relief because there is one less platform that could expose children to disturbing content.

The future of social media in India

With one less social media platform, content creators are left with the previously available options for showcasing their talents. Losing a huge number of followers has urged many content creators to request their followers to follow them on other social media sites. This implies that many content creators would now switch to Facebook, Instagram or YouTube to showcase their talents. This has also given an opportunity for creation of new platforms similar to TikTok, as well as improvement of the already available platforms. Further, the social media market in India is only set to get bigger and bigger, because even the less privileged and rural content creators are getting on board to make use of the existing platforms. This also means that businesses will now have an even better access to the rural market by making use of social media marketing specifically targeting the rural demography. What exactly the future holds for social media in India, only time can tell. Until then, keep creating!