TikTok Seemingly Impervious to Bad Press as US Considers Ban
With growing reports of privacy concerns, malware, and the recent ban in India, one would think that TikTok should be losing users, but the data says otherwise.
At this point, TikTok is no stranger to cybersecurity-related scandals. The popular short-form video platform owned by ByteDance has faced multiple accusations, from stealing user data and child privacy violations with the US Fair Trade Commission, to a recent discovery of clipboard hacking that was brought to light with the beta rollout of iOS 14.
Most significantly, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has given word this week that the US is considering a nationwide ban of the app, and lawmakers in other countries such as Australia are calling for bans as well. This week, TikTok pulled itself out of the Hong Kong market following Beijing’s new security law in the city, likely as a strategic move to distance itself from the Chinese government and claims that it is handing over user information.
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Meanwhile, India already started the trend by banning TikTok on June 29 along with 58 other apps that are Chinese-owned and deemed as a threat to national security. The app was removed from the App Store and Google Play following the announcement, leaving millions of creators scrambling for a new platform. This is also a huge blow to viewership considering India was formerly the number one largest market for the app, making up over 30% of the app’s worldwide installation count.
Despite these developments, the app has shown no signs of toppling from its top 10 throne. According to App Ape, even after news of the $5.7 million settlement with the FTC in February 2019, there was only a slight dip in user possession with little more than a 200,000 person deficit in the US. Now user possession shows a very steady increase and has more than quadrupled since early 2019. Worldwide numbers have only continued to skyrocket in 2020 as TikTok surpassed 626 million downloads for the first 6 months of the year. According to Sensor Tower, it had the most single-quarter downloads of any app in history with 315 million in Q1 2020 alone.
So it would appear that TikTok still provides enough user appeal and value to counter this unending barrage of negative press. This could be in part because of its widely touted algorithm that gives creators more discoverability and a chance of virality that keeps them coming back for more. It might also have to do with the unique community that has grown over time, especially since ByteDance acquired US-based app Musical.ly and merged the platforms in 2017. Quite simply, there is no exact alternative to this lip sync video powerhouse … yet.
While creators in India appear to be turning to a few homegrown, alternative apps such as Chingari and Roposo, a familiar face has been testing a TikTok challenger in the same market. Instagram is gradually unveiling Reels on its own app, a tool for creating and sharing short videos set to music. The Facebook-owned giant has gained a reputation as a social media assassin after seemingly obliterating Vine in 2016 and slowly choking out Snapchat after their addition of Instagram Stories.
Even if TikTok is able to save itself from more countrywide bans, will Instagram Reels wield the power to end TikTok’s controversial reign? With the right algorithm, it could be an interesting showdown.
Want to see what the hype is about? Download TikTok on the App Store or Google Play.
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