TikTok leads downloads again in March despite Washington crackdown

Chinese- owned short video app TikTok remained the most downloaded app worldwide in March, despite persistent crackdowns by the US over politically- motivated claims, latest industry data showed.

However, the app may face more restrictions under the new US administration, as a China- US tech race continues to heat up, experts said.

According to data released by Sensor Tower on its WeChat account, TikTok, as well as its Chinese version Douyin, had 58 million downloads in March around the world, the most among all mobile apps. TikTok ranked third in Google Play downloads, just behind Facebook and Instagram.

The data also showed that about 10 percent of the app’s downloads took place in the US in March, compared with 11 percent in February. The app announced last year that its active users in the US had exceeded 100 million.

Experts have attributed TikTok’s continued strong performance to its competitiveness in matching content to targeted consumers with the help of technology. But some have also pointed out that the US government’s crackdown increased the firm’s popularity, attracting more consumers to the app.

Former US President Donald Trump issued an executive order forcing ByteDance to sell TikTok or have it banned from use in the US, but the deadline for the sale passed with no action as Trump stepped down.

A telecom expert surnamed Fu said that Trump’s crackdown on Chinese apps like WeChat and TikTok had been “unusually top- down”, unlike regular management of overseas companies. Considering Biden’s “well- balanced” style, he is unlikely to roll out similar hard- line measures against companies like TikTok.