Indian TikTok users post videos to express displeasure with ban on Chinese app

An Indian ban on dozens of Chinese apps following a border clash between the two nations has possibly derailed a $1 billion India expansion plan of China’s ByteDance, while also sparking an uproar from users of its popular TikTok video app.

One user @omkarsharma988 posted a video in which he throws utensils to the ground, hits a chair and weeps, with a Hindi song playing “You’ve left me, how will I live now?” The video had been liked 218,000 times, as the app still functions on phones on which it is already downloaded.

When TikTok was banned briefly last year over a state court’s order, the company told the Supreme Court the ban cost it roughly $15 million a month.

@omkarsharma988Tiktok is banned🙏 ##teamparrot ##ending ##life ##cry ##pyaar ##dangerous ##foryou♬ Jay-Jaykara – Kailash Kher

TikTok maker ByteDance, which has since last year hired several senior executives and laid out plans to invest $1 billion in India.

What will be effect of #tiktokbanned in India?? Tik toker logic : Unemployement badh jayegi.. Sab Tik Tokers Foreign chale jayeinge 😂#TikTok #DigitalSurgicalStrike pic.twitter.com/ZkJqXtIbuR

— Rosy (@rose_k01) June 29, 2020

TikTok said in a statement the Indian government had invited the company to respond to the ban and submit clarifications, adding that it complies with all data security and privacy requirements.

“If this is not rolled back, these companies would be constrained to cut back their operations in India, potentially resulting in a loss of employment,” said a lawyer who advises a Chinese company whose app has been banned in India.

Sha Jun, executive partner at the India Investment Services Center of the Yingke Law Firm, told the Global Times on Tuesday that the Indian government’s behavior was “too childish and emotional” and “it marks a very bad signal for further Chinese investment in India.”

The presence of Chinese investors in India’s high-tech start-up ecosystem has secured the country a significant standing in recent years not only due to funds brought to the emerging market but also due to the provision of cutting-edge technologies and rich experience to scale up businesses.