Skip to main content

India bans TikTok—plus 58 other Chinese apps

On Monday, India banned TikTok and dozens of other apps made in China, escalating tension between the countries two weeks after a long-simmering border dispute in the Himalayas turned deadly.

The news: In a statement, India said the apps “engaged in activities which (are) prejudicial to sovereignty and integrity of India, defence of India, security of state and public order.” Messaging and chat apps like Baidu and WeChat were on the list too, along with the popular microblogging site Weibo, several mobile games, and photo editing software.

Why does it matter? Home to more than 1.3 billion people, India has a huge smartphone user base and English speaking population, which make it the world’s largest social media market. It’s perhaps no surprise, then, that India is also TikTok’s biggest market, with nearly 191 million downloads at the end of 2019; the US is at a distant second with nearly 41 million.

Social media has a troubling history in India. TikTok and WhatsApp have also been weaponized by India’s far-right Hindu nationalist movement, to deadly effect: viral WhatsApp messages spreading false rumors have led to mob lynchings of Muslims and lower caste Hindus, while TikTok’s split-screen videos have also been used in caste hate crimes. And as we reported last year, Hindu nationalists flooded TikTok with misogynistic videos threatening to overtake the Muslim-majority province of Jammu and Kashmir and “turn it” Hindu by forcibly marrying Kashmiri girls and women.

It’s not the first time India has banned TikTok. TikTok launched last year in India under its former brand, Musical.ly, becoming popular as a lip syncing app. But just before the country’s elections, a court banned the app, ruling it had pornographic content and was predatory; within days, India’s Supreme Court overturned the ban. In July, though, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology—the same one that issued the current ban—said TikTok was being used for “unlawful” purposes, specifically sharing user data through bots with China. TikTok wasn’t banned, then, however, as the slew of misogynistic content afterward showed.

India’s Chinese app ban is a new diplomatic maneuver. India and China have opened a new front in their ongoing skirmish. Both countries are nuclear powers and economic giants, but India’s ban is notable for using social media as a tool to exert political pressure on its rival.



Udimi - Buy Solo Ads from MIT Technology Review https://ift.tt/3eJKeEP
via IFTTT
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

9 VCs in Madrid and Barcelona discuss the COVID-19 era and look to the future

Spain’s startup ecosystem has two main hubs: Madrid and Barcelona. Most observers place Barcelona first and Madrid second, but the gap appears to close every year. Barcelona has benefitted from attracting expats in search of sun, beach and lifestyle who tend to produce more internationally minded startups. Madrid’s startups have predominantly been Spain or Latin America-focused, but have become increasingly international in nature. Although not part of this survey, we expect Valencia to join next year, as city authorities have been going all-out to attract entrepreneurs and investors. The overall Spanish ecosystem is generally less mature than those in the U.K., France, Sweden and Germany, but it has been improving at a fast clip. More recently, entrepreneurs in Spain have moved away from emulating success in pursuit of innovative technologies. Following the financial crisis, the Spanish government supported the creation of startups with the launch of FOND-ICO GLOBAL, a €1.5 billi...
Post a Comment
Read more

Emulating USB Dongle – Introducing HASP Dongle Emulator Software

Information Technology Blog - - Emulating USB Dongle – Introducing HASP Dongle Emulator Software - Information Technology Blog Over the years the methods used by software developers and producers to limit the amount of users to a specific number in a licensing agreement have become more complex.  The aim of copy protection is to protect the intellectual rights and financial investment of the individual developers and manufacturing companies.   A way of getting around this protection is to reproduce the media through which you can deliver the application to other users,  meaning that the software can be replicated far in excess of that specified in the license. One of the most common methods has been to use hardware keys or dongles which will enable the user to activate an application, unlocking its full functionality without using a device.  In addition, it offers good protection against attempts to pirate the software. In this article, we will look at th...
1 comment
Read more

Advantages and Disadvantages of using Vouchers in eCommerce

Information Technology Blog - - Advantages and Disadvantages of using Vouchers in eCommerce - Information Technology Blog To decide whether vouchers and coupons are the right tool to add to your online marketing strategy, it is essential that you consider the benefit and the cost of using coupons. In this article, we will use Gtech coupon marketing strategy as an example a successful coupon strategy.  Also check out these great books on coupon codes for ecommerce . Advantages of Using Coupons Increase Sales This is the obvious benefit. Coupons serve to increase sales especially for high ticket items such as luxury gadgets. Gtech discount codes is a good example as Gtech quality is reflected on the price of both the Gtech eBike and Gtech AirRam. In order to boost sales, the company releases 10% off offers certain times of the year when online sales would normally be low. Enlarge Email List Acquiring a customer can be expensive in terms of advertising and marketing. If yo...
1 comment
Read more