BAN TIKTOK VS PLAY PUBGM

       BAN TIKTOK VS PLAY PUBGM 

      RECENTLY, we all saw that a giant entertainment app named TikTok was banned along with some other 58 Chinese apps due to data security issues. America is now planning to ban TikTok too, let’s see if it happens.  The step was taken by the govt. of India. With more than 1 billion downloads it was the most successful app by a Chinese company named Bytedance . we all have seen this TikTok ban scene back in 2019 too, but that was not the same case. In 2019, TikTok was taken down from the Indian digital app stores for android and iPhone due to an interim order by madras high court. Meity (Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology) asked 24 questions from the parental company of TikTok and Helo with an ultimatum. Some questions were like, what does the company perceive anti India and obscene. So, that was regarding the quality of content. Even TikTok at that time removed more than 5 million videos from their platform afterwards. Hence the app was banned briefly. But this time, Meity have given a press release in media.  And this time meity has asked 79 questions from all the banned apps' owners.

PRESS RELEASE 

   It says,”Govt. bans 59 mobile apps which are prejudicial to sovereignty and integrity of India, defence of India, security of state and public order.”  

Why did the demand of ban on TikTok and other Chinese apps catch the attention?

The clarion call by the Indian people was on full swing to boycott the Chinese products after the Galwan valley incident that costed lives of our 8 Indian jawans, high altitude being the major reason, and many injured. Meanwhile, govt. of India took the security of India both on border and digital seriously. Hence the step became imperative. In 2019, an advocate and social activist Muthu Kumar had also filed a case against TikTok on 1April for its pornographic content and its weird algorithm of exposing minors to paedophiles. Earlier to this, a college student had died in an accident when his bike rammed into a heavy vehicle and two of his friends were severely injured while making a TikTok video.

Meanwhile, there was a feud going on between a group of TikTokers and the YouTube community over the quality of content on TikTok. Which led to the meme war and many popular YouTubers started roasting TikTok content calling them “Cringe” content. Carry Minati, a famous YouTuber stood out as a torch bearer for roasting TikTok content. Soon the roasting of TikTok content trapped in a cyber bullying controversy itself. 

Impact of the ban in India. 

 India is a top market for TikTok  As we all know that the majority of Indian TikTok users falls under the age category between 15 to 30. The fun part was that the users of age around 30 were more than that of teenagers. Many users were even making big money, people who were supposed to be celebrity on the platform. After the ban on the app approx. 3500 jobs (employed at the Indian offices of these apps) are at risk in India. And the users of TikTok are also troubled after the ban because they had a hope for earning like other TikTok celebrities. Kylie Jenner was the influencer for many of the Indian TikTok users. according to a survey, Indian users spend 38 minutes daily on TikTok.in 2019, TikTok was downloaded 323 million times in India (no third party download is considered).

 The most followed individuals on tiktok:

Was TikTok really that bad for Indian users?

Though, it had been a reason for many of the Indian youths of ruining their time. Students were not paying enough time . there were many other issues like obscene content , hate speech, violence, unrealistic scenario. Many children used the app as well and they were catered such contents by sliding the finger on screen. Back in 2019, Tamil Nadu Information Technology minister M Manikandan says that the state govt. wants help from central govt. to ban TikTok as the app is deteriorating the culture of the state and causing many other disturbances regarding law and order. And with no exception, the data theft is the new concern in India right now.  

But the app was a hope for many talented users 

On the other hand, banning the app made those real content creators’ growth stop. Those were singers, dancers, some unique hacks teachers, technical educators etc. 

Revenue of TikTok 

Chinese compnies were making big profits by these platforms in India. As youngsters were there in a large number.TikTok was making tens of crores quarterly. By the end of December 2019, TikTok reportedly brought in approx. 25 crore rupees in India.even TikTok was targeting 100 crore of Indian rupees by September 2020. Bytedance was planning to invest 1 billion dollars in India, but plan is now hit by the Chinese apps ban news.  anyone can notice the dominance of Chinese apps in Indian digital works . Still, the Chinese version of TikTok, Douyin is  still the utmost profit gainer in China. After the ban in India, the company is thinking of keeping its business away from China.

Why PUBGM is not banned till date?

After the TikTok ban many people are fuming over the popular game PUBGM saying that the game is also Made in China  so why not ban it either. But the fact is that Tencent, the PUBG MOBILE version distributer only owns 10% of the bluehole company  which is a South Korean parental company of PUBGM corp. even developer companies of League of Legends, Fortnite, call of duty , Assassin Creed etc. are also taking investments from Tencent Gaming. That doesn’t make the games Chinese. Apart from the ownership discussion, the mobile game has also been in the controversies for its violence theme, costly in app purchases made by Indian teens and even violence in real life over disturbance by relatives in playing PUBG mobile.    

MY TAKE ON THE WHOLE ISSUE:

Apps are banned due to data security concern. Because those apps were under the Chinese govt regulations, but PUBGM is not fully owned by any Chinese company that keeps it aside beyond the compulsions of those regulatory by Chinese govt. still, if anything related to the data security issues are found in the app, must be banned irrespective to the country ownership. NATION IS PRIDE!