Tick, tock: Border row ends Indian stars鈥 time on major Chinese app
Print Edition
Geetha Sridhar never used to enter her kitchen in Mumbai without her smartphone. The 54-year-old homemaker used to post dozens of short videos daily on the Chinese video app TikTok, mostly of herself cooking traditional recipes.
With 1 million TikTok followers, she earned an average 50,000 rupees (US$662) a month from companies who paid her to use their products.
For thousands of Indian content creators like Sridhar, TikTok was a window into fame and fortune. But on Tuesday, the app, owned by China鈥檚 ByteDance, went blank on phones across India after the government banned it along with 58 other Chinese-origin apps which it considered a threat to national sovereignty.
The move came weeks after a deadly skirmish between Indian and Chinese soldiers along the disputed Himalayan border.
鈥淭ikTok made me strong and confident. I started wearing western clothes, dancing on the streets ... I am disappointed,鈥 Sridhar said.
TikTok was a sensation in India. With more than 600 million downloads, India accounted for 30 percent of its 2 billion downloads worldwide. ByteDance planned to invest US$1 billion in India, its top growth market where it employs 2,000 people.
Unlike Instagram, Facebook and Twitter, TikTok found resonance in India鈥檚 hinterland as well as its cities, thanks to its less elaborate user interface, background music options and various special effects. Users 鈥 who ranged from Bollywood stars to people in remote villages who became mini-celebrities 鈥 posted a variety of content.
Vishal Pandey, 22, had nearly 17 million followers on TikTok and used the platform to regularly post videos 鈥 everything from dancing to short humorous acting sketches. His popularity on the platform had helped him secure acting offers for some movies, he said.
鈥淭ikTok opened so many doors for me. Instead of having to line-up outside auditions, I got calls from casting agents saying 鈥楥an you please work in our web series,鈥欌 Pandey said. 鈥淭here is absolutely no app that can compare to TikTok. None.鈥
After India imposed the ban but just before the app went blank, many TikTok users posted videos expressing their displeasure.
Indian video-creation apps like Roposo, described on Google鈥檚 app store as 鈥淚ndia鈥檚 own video app,鈥 and another named Chingari are likely to see a popularity surge after the TikTok ban.
But some users say they will continue to miss TikTok.
Indian student Siri Challa, 23, had only recently started posting videos of her mother and herself dancing to catchy songs. In less than three months, she garnered 1 million followers and a promotion deal with a beauty brand.
鈥淚鈥檓 going to miss it, but I guess it is time to move on,鈥 Challa said.
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