India banned TikTok without warning. 200 million people learned to live without it
CNN
As TikTok fans in the United States worry about losing access to the wildly-popular social media app, there are lessons they can learn from a country on the other side of the world.
As TikTok fans in the United States worry about losing access to the wildly-popular social media app, there are lessons they can learn from a country on the other side of the world. On Wednesday, the US House of Representatives passed a bill that could lead to a nationwide TikTok ban. While the Chinese-owned app is not disappearing from Americans’ phones anytime soon, many of its 170 million users in the country are deeply rattled. But here is what they need to know: It is possible to survive and thrive in a TikTok-less world. Just ask the planet’s most populous nation. In June 2020, after a violent clash on the India-China border that left at least 20 Indian soldiers dead, the government in New Delhi suddenly banned TikTok and several other well-known Chinese apps. “It’s important to remember that when India banned TikTok and multiple Chinese apps, the US was the first to praise the decision,” said Nikhil Pahwa, the Delhi-based founder of tech website MediaNama. “[Former] US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo had welcomed the ban, saying it ‘will boost India’s sovereignty.’” While India’s abrupt decision shocked the country’s 200 million TikTok users, in the four years since, many have found other suitable alternatives.