Is TikTok in its “Endgame” in India?

TikTok has already engulfed the complete world with millions of users getting registered every day. So the question arises – what is TikTok? TikTok is the world’s leading destination for short-form mobile videos. It allows users to create and share short videos with special effects. It’s developed by the Beijing-based company ByteDance. Lip-synching and dancing are pretty popular genres.

Popularity in India

In India, TikTok has been one of the most favorite app for teenagers and kids. Many creators jump on to the viral “challenges”, others emote over famous monologues from movies and TV. Check out some astonishing facts about TikTok – it had been downloaded more than 240 million times in India, app analytics firm Sensor Tower said in February. More than 30 million users installed the app in January 2019, 12 times more than in the same month last year.

But recently, TikTok has been in the news everywhere in India. The Madras High Court directed the centre to ban the app from Google and Apple stores in India. On 3rd April, the Tamil Nadu High Court asked the government to ban downloads, saying it encouraged pornography and that sexual predators could target child users.

Does it need to be kept in check?

Social Media platforms have been in scrutiny in recent times for distributing possibly illegal content. Also, this is the first time that India has implemented a nation-wide ban on a social media app. Thus far, Google has removed TikTok from the Play Store, while Apple has yet to follow suit.  India has emerged as a pivotal battleground for social media platforms, as India is now the second-biggest smartphone market in the world.

This app is growing fast, having been downloaded over a billion times in 2018, with more than 80 million downloads in the US alone. ByteDance has set an aggressive target of a having a 50% foreign user base by 2020, but rulings like this could end up slowing the app’s growth.

What’s in store after the ban?

TikTok could still become the next big thing in social networking. But there are some early red flags here, some hurdles that will slow its momentum. This app may still hold significant opportunity for marketers, but it’s worth monitoring the situation, and seeing how these factors impact its development.

With all said and done, will Google & Apple reverse their ban on TikTok or is this the end of the road for TikTok in India?