While the world battles COVID-19 pandemic, some people are busyfollowing a fierce Internet war - thatof YouTube and Tik Tok.
It all started with a video titled 'YouTube vsTikTok: The End' that took social media by storm. The video was posted byYouTube sensation CarryMinati (Ajey Nagar), where he roasted Amir Siddiqui, a¡®social media influencer¡¯ within the TikTok community.
Instagram/YouTube
Amir Siddiqui is a popular TikToker with 3.7 millionfollowers. Based in Mumbai, the TikTok comedian¡¯s videos garner millions ofviews, while Carry Minati is known for his comedy sketches, satirical parodiesand live gaming - he rose to fame with his diss track 'Bye Pewdiepie', and hasracked up more than 16.7 million subscribers.
The video, which was essentially a roast of TikTok stars,had managed to cross over 70 million views on the platform and quickly becamethe most liked non-musical Indian YouTube video.
However, the video was taken off. YouTube said that the video was removed for violating their policy on harassment and bullying.
Soon after the video was taken down, a Twitter storm eruptedwith users demanding justice for the YouTube star and banning TikTok in thecountry. According to his supporters, the video was intended as good, harmlesshumour. A number of hashtags also started trending on the social media service,including #CarryMinati and #JusticeForCarry.
Netizens trended #BanTikTokinIndia and shared photos andscreenshots that said they had downloaded the app simply to leave a negativerating on it. The app's rating has significantly dropped from 4.5 to 3.2 in lessthan a week. TikTok's current rating on the Google Play Store stands at2.0, and at 4.2 on the Apple app store.
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Indian netizens also want video-making app banned after a video glorifying acid attack started doing the rounds on the Internet.
The video was created by 'influencer' Faizal Siddiqui, who enjoys more than 13 million followers on the platform.
Another new trend is of TikTok users' YouTube pages beingflooded with negative comments, in bid to turn them into themost disliked videos on the video-sharing platform. Many tweetshave also said that they've uninstalled TikTok to support Carry Minati, andshamed Siddiqui.
After the controversy, YouTuber?Carry Minati?shared a new video explaining his side of the storyafter his viral video was taken off the streaming platform. In the video heexplained that his words are being taken out of context. In his roast ofTikToker Amir Siddiqui, he had made comments such as ¡®mithai ki dukan mein lejaunga toh 200 mein bik jayega (You will sell for Rs 200 at a sweet shop).¡¯Twitter users objected to his comments, calling him a homophobe and a bigot.
Headded that translating his jokes from Hindi to English has also changed themeaning of his roast drastically. Earlier on Saturday, he even shared a note abouthis video getting removed. ¡°Growing up, all I ever wanted to do was make videosand entertain people and I have given my hopes, dreams, blood, sweat and wholelife on the platform.¡±
Carry Minati added that not getting enough answers "can be the most disappointing situation" and the "biggest achievements become an easy target to pull down."
Since the controversy started escalating many?YouTubers have come out in support of CarryMinati. YouTuber Bhuvan Bam took to Twitter and wrote: "Deep down everyone will remember that yours was/will be the most liked YT video ever. We love you."
"Carry, mere bhai ye video gayi toh kya ho gaya? Agli mein record tod dena, Hum sab tere saath hai, in sab se ek cheez pata chal gayi. Public mein tere lie pyaar aur wo duniya ke har record se upar hai," famous YouTuber Ashish Chanchlani wrote.
While a section of the Internet came out in support for Carry Minati, others slammed him for queer-phobic slurs and usage of words like ¡®Meetha¡¯ and ¡®Pari¡¯, which are often used to refer to the people from transgender community. While Carry Minati put out an emotional message post the blow, there was no mention or clarification about the problematic portions of his video and that's what left many people miffed.