As TikTok competitors swoop in amid global pushback, is the short video app losing its ‘first mover advantage’?

In the week after India banned TikTok, negative sentiment against the app on social media rose to 80 per cent on average from 55 per cent a week before

Meanwhile, Indian alternatives are gaining traction and Western apps are also launching short video features

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In this file photo taken on February 10, 2020 Sikh volunteers hang a sign reading 'Tiktok is prohibited here', at the Golden Temple in Amritsar. Photo: AFP

Published: 6:00am, 9 Jul 2020Updated: 6:00am, 9 Jul 2020

In the week or so after India banned 59 Chinese apps, several home-grown video-sharing platforms that had previously been dwarfed by wildly popular short video app TikTok have seen their user numbers jump.

Roposo, a TikTok-like app that has been around since 2014, drew in 22 million new users in two days after India banned Chinese apps including TikTok, the company’s founder Mayank Bhangadia told Reuters. The app now ranks first in the entertainment category of the Apple App Store in India, according to data provider Sensor Tower.

Chingari, another TikTok alternative launched in 2018, has seen two to three million downloads per day after the ban, according to English-language Indian newspaper Financial Express.

TikTok, owned by Beijing-based ByteDance, popularised the short video format and is widely seen as China’s first app to achieve widespread international success. India is its biggest international market, with at least 120 million monthly active users reported before the ban.

But a deadly border clash between China and India, resulting in the deaths of 20 Indian troops, in mid-June has led to a backlash against China technology. And TikTok – which has already been facing criticism worldwide, particularly in the US, over issues relating to data privacy and security – is bearing the brunt of the fire.

In a week after the India government ban, the average negative sentiment against the Chinese-owned app on social media rose to 80 per cent from 55 per cent a week before, according to data provided by global media intelligence company Meltwater, which has offices in Hong Kong.

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As TikTok competitors swoop in amid global pushback, is the short video app losing its ‘first mover advantage’?

In the week after India banned TikTok, negative sentiment against the app on social media rose to 80 per cent on average from 55 per cent a week before Meanwhile, Indian alternatives are gaining traction and Western apps are also launching short video features

In the week after India banned TikTok, negative sentiment against the app on social media rose to 80 per cent on average from 55 per cent a week before

Meanwhile, Indian alternatives are gaining traction and Western apps are also launching short video features