Uninstalled and Cache Cleared: Banning Chinese Apps might not be that easy
Government’s decision to ban 59 apps that have Chinese origin have received a mixed reaction from the users in India. The official statement from the government notifying the ban didn’t reveal much details in regard to whether the ban is temporary or permanent. However, TikTok, the popular video sharing social media app in an official statement mentioned that the ban is ‘interim’ and that they have been invited by the government to discuss in detail.
Whatever the outcome be, the result of this banning will have an impact on users in India. While Indian brands that replicate the functionality of the banned apps might see a silver lining in a less competitive ecosystem, the consumption pattern of content in India might have received a dent.
How severe is the impact?
While most apps that have been banned like Xender, Cam Scanner, UC Browser, Club Factory have competitive rivals and won’t affect users that much, short-video sharing apps like TikTok, Likee, Vigo have content creators from Tier 2, Tier 3 cities and rural parts of India who would need to start from the scratch. TikTok alone has over 100 million active users in India and was available in 14 regional languages. Influencer Marketing needs strategy and it certainly takes time to grow one’s follower base. Besides, moving out from a platform and starting out on a new has its own consequences. TikTok on several occasions earlier have been red flagged for its quality of content, however, it has a whole ecosystem where content creators are dependent on this platform for their bread and butter. Unlike YouTube or Instagram, the content creators here don’t have a revenue sharing model, rather they are directly contracted by brands for promotions. Now moving to another platform and starting it all new will be difficult both for creators as well as influencers.
Of late, a lot of brands had prioritized its spending on TikTok finding an opportunity to connect to its target base efficiently. Will there be job losses?
The apps might have been headquartered in China but there is no denying in the fact that Indians were employed in their offices across India. Bytedance, the organization that owns TikTok and Helo, employs 2000 people in their workforce in India. E-commerce players like Club Factory and Shein have 90 and 50 people respectively in their payroll. Add to it, more than 8000 Indian vendors who sell through these platforms and the supply chain that employs hundreds for last mile delivery.
While banning of the apps has its own diplomatic stance, Indian job market, which is reeling under pressure from the ongoing Covid-19 crisis may receive a severe blow.
An opportunity for Indian entrepreneurs Home-bred Roposo, Chingari, Mitron, Bolo Indya and Share Chat are riding the anti-China sentiments and getting an instant hit on the download numbers since the ban. This is the right time for the Indian brands dealing in short video sharing platforms to lure both creators and audience into their own folds.
Bolo Indya, a user-generated content platform enabling users to create twominute videos sharing their knowledge, experience and opinions across interest areas have seen more than 1 lakh downloads in the last 12 hours since the news came on banning. Not just a surge in downloads, the app has also witnessed 5.5 lakh+ videos being created in last 12 hours.
“Happy to see many Tiktok Stars switching to Bolo Indya as a preferred alternative to move their followers. Majority of these are from Edutok segment of Tiktok which further boosts our value add for users as a regional language platform to share knowledge, experience and opinions,” said Varun Saxena, founder of Bolo Indya. What’s the way forward?
Well, if the government decides to keep the ban permanent, it must also ensure stricter cyber laws dealing in privacy and security. While the apps that are banned are directly owned by the Chinese companies, there are many businesses in India, which are backed by Chinese venture capitalists. And that makes the game even more serious, when banning apps isn’t a long-lasting solution. “While the protection of data may be the ostensible reason for this move, its impact on the companies concerned will remain to be seen. In addition to this move, the government should look at strengthening India’s data privacy and protection laws,” said Vivek Chandy, Joint Managing Partner at J Sagar Associates law firm.
Selected Banned Apps & their alternatives
TikTok, Helo, Big Libe, Vigo Video, Vmate, U Video and Kwai- Alternatives are Mitron, Bolo Indya, Roposo, Share Chat We Chat: Alternatives are Hyke, Whatsapp, Telegram
Camscanner: Alternatives are Adobe Scan, Tap Scanner, Microsoft Office Lens Hago Play with New Friends: Alternative is House party
Shareit, Xender, ES File Explorer : Alternatives are Dropbox, Jio Switch, Google Drive
UC Browser: Alternatives are Opera, Safari, Mozilla Firefox
Mobile Legends: Alternatives are Legends of Legends, PubG
Shein, CLub Factory: Alternatives are Limeroad, Amazon, Flipkart YouCam makeup, SelfieCity, Meitu: Alternatives are B612 Beauty, Filter Camera DU battery saver: Alternative is Battery Saver & Charge Optimizer Newsdog, UC News, QQ Newsfeed: Alternatives are Google News, Daily Hunt.