We Hate TikTok So Much That Indians Are Willing To Cheer A Violation Of Internet Freedom
"What is up with Tik Tok and why is it suddenly hated?" was a pretty common thread on Reddit a few months ago. At the time, it made sense, because it was new. But now, the large consensus is cheering its ban in India. Why is that though?
"What is up with TikTok and why is it suddenly hated?"
This was a pretty common thread on Reddit's 'Out Of The Loop' subreddit a few months ago. At the time, it made sense, because the app was still fairly new. But now, the consensus is strongly against the app, with people cheering its ban in India. Why is that though?
Reuters
Since the ban was announced, pretty much everyone and their grand aunt have been on Twitter saying it's a good thing. Let me assure you, even as someone that has never and will never use TikTok, a ban on it is still bad.
Me when I can't find TikTok in Play store and App store ?#TikTokban #tiktokindia pic.twitter.com/BHZXznVmRt
¡ª Ashoke Purohit (@Sarcashok) April 16, 2019
#TikTok banned ???????#TikTokban pic.twitter.com/NsKz0ztXsl
¡ª $?!N! (@ThisIsNIKKY) April 17, 2019
#TikTok was really a #Kalank
¡ª DexPool (@Dexter2226) April 17, 2019
for the society .#Thanos and #SpiderMan after #TikTokban in India: pic.twitter.com/BsTBaHF6VP
A Great News!!#TikTok Is Now Removed And Blocked From Both Android And iOS App stores!!
¡ª vijay Immanuel (@pcvijay630) April 16, 2019
Finally A Good Initiative from The Government!!#EnowaytionPlus #EPlusSquad #Thalapathy63
But that doesn't explain why people harbour such ill-will towards an app that just lets people lip-sync and dance their way to viral views.
When we went out onto the streets of Delhi to gain some insight into people's feelings on the ban, we heard both comments in support of and against the app. Most however agreed that banning it was absolutely not the right move. "Nothing happens from banning something to block porn, proxies still work today,"said one guy, while another added, "Limiting the content in it would have been right, not banning the whole app."
"TikTok was like a guy you don't want in your life, but he's not going to harm you," said one woman.
Other comments however did give us a peek at the app's general reception among non-users.
"People on it thought they were celebrities," said one. "It was really cringey,"stated another. Both of these are important statements not because of what they say, but because of what they imply.
It seems people really didn't like TikTok users finding fame and popularity, no matter how small a scale. A few users found quite a bit of success on the app, lip-syncing to classic Bollywood numbers and dialogues. But it didn't matter how much effort they put into it, faking emotions and even tears. Who knows how many takes they needed? What mattered to many people instead was that they were gaining notoriety for "doing no work"
It's interesting when you remember that YouTubers used to face the same sort of criticism back in the day, particularly gamers, makeup specialists, and vloggers. That is, at least until they began making millions and landing endorsement contracts. The same happened to Instagram influencers, Vine comedians as well (at least until it shut down), and IRL Twitch streamers.
Perhaps it's all a matter of perspective. Full-time content creators and social media influencers know that it's hard work, it's a never-ending slog, and requires real dedication to turn into a decently-paying profession. But to everyone else, at least until each platform has been around long enough for them to know better, it looks like easy money and fame.
And we as humans hate to see someone benefit for doing nothing. Here we are with our expensive college degrees, slogging at office jobs, trying to earn a living, so it grinds our gears when some kid can get rich doing something we're "too cool to do".
Ok, so maybe for some of you it was just that Tik Tok was so cringey. So what? There's plenty of stuff like it online that people take great pleasure in. That's why YouTube is full of compilations like TV news fails, public freakouts, and more. If your dad starts using phrases like "lit", and "swag", you're certainly not to encourage it, but you're not going to hide it either. You'll tell that story to your friends, because it embarrassingly funny.
Take that older Indian uncle recreating Harry Potter on his broom for instance. He may have received plenty of laughs, but also incited a lot of calls to "take the Internet away from Indians", and only some of those were kidding.
What it might be then is a type of elitism that's unfortunately a part of our society. We're educated, modern, city people. So what the hell are these village bumpkins doing on a viral video app gaining fame eh?
Yeah, I don't like the sound of that either, but it's a very strong possibility. Look inward, and you might find that true for yourself too.
In this day and age, we've gotten used to not just forming biases about popular things, but also loudly proclaiming them. We can't stand to see TikTok videos online, despite the fact we can just ignore them and scroll past. We can't deal with other people watching them, even though they're using their phone, their data, and their time to do that.
So we cheer when "that stupid app" gets banned. "Acche din aa gaye," we say, all the while ignoring the bigger picture.
They came for PUBG and I didn't care, because I didn't play it. They came for TikTok and I rejoiced because I hated it. They came for pornography and I made do with it. Then they took my Internet freedom and they said, "We've done this before, how is this any different?"
ALSO READ: The Indian Way Of Tik Tok Is Bat-Sh*t Crazy And These Videos Prove Exactly Why
