The world of TikTok: Ban, concerns, frenzy and losses

Once being one of the most famous video sharing applications among youngsters across the world, TikTok is now facing ban in several countries ranging from the US, Canada, etc. Countries are banning the Chinese app on ground of different reasons like ethics, indecency, security and privacy. The current streak of bans on TikTok began years ago and have also impacted the revenues of its parent company ByteDance.

Countries where TikTok is banned

-Canada banned the video sharing application on 28 March on its government devices. Soon, people won't be able to download the app from its official website as well.

-On the same day, the USA directed all its agencies to uninstall TikTok from all government-issued devices within a month. As of now, the ban hasn't been extended to other US citizens.

-The European Union has banned the Chinese application from government devices. The ban on government devices in European parliament will come into effect from 20 March.

-India banned TikTok way back in 2020, along with more than 300 Chinese applications.

-Afghanistan banned TikTok and other social media applications last year.

- The crisis-struck Pakistan banned TikTok at least four times with the last ban that ran till November 2022.

-Taiwan banned TikTok and other Chinese application on the government devices in December last year.

Loss incurred by TikTok due to bans

When India banned the social media application, the firm expected a loss of over $6 billion, according to a media report. The USA is one of the biggest markets for the TikTok, hence a blanket ban on the application in the country can lead to massive loss to its company ByteDance in future. 

In the wake of consecutive bans by several countries, TikTok parent ByteDance Ltd's operating losses rose by more than triple in 2021, reported Wall Street Journal in 2022. The company prefers to keep its finances highly guarded. Hence, it is difficult to get the latest data of the ByteDance revenue. The company doesn't disclose its results publicly.

ByteDance earned some profit in the first quarter of 2022 indicating a positive growth of the company in 2022, reported WSJ. Due to the lack of availability of data in public domain, there is no information about ByteDance's financial performance in 2022.

Why are countries banning TikTok?

With several countries coming forward to ban the video sharing application, there is no single reason for the ban. The recent ban implemented by the US, EU, and Canada on TikTok came in the wake of security concerns posed by the application due to the proximity of its parent company with the Chinese government. The ban was implemented fearing leak of confidential information of these governments to China.

India also banned the application in 2020 along with other Chinese application due to security concerns. However, same is not the case with Afghanistan and Pakistan, where the application is banned for its alleged role in spreading obscenity and unethical values among users. Taliban-led Afghanistan banned the app citing the reason that it leads youths “astray”. Taiwan has banned the application due to its illegal operation in the island.

Countries where TikTok is still present

As per the data available on the ByteDance's official website, TikTok's office is available in Los Angeles, New York, London, Paris, Berlin, Dubai, Mumbai, Singapore, Jakarta, Seoul, and Tokyo. TikTok is still functional in following countries.

-USA( only for non-government device)

-Canada (only for non-government device)

-Europe(only for non-government device)

-Indonesia

-Brazil

-Mexico

-Russia

-Vietnam

-Phillipenes

-Thailand

-Turkey

-Saudi Arabia

TikTok's frenzy fan following among youngsters

Despite being at the centre of controversy due to security issues, the video sharing application has a massive user young user base. Despite facing bans from last couple of years,TikTok's active user base is expected to increase by 50% in two years. Its 1 billion global monthly active users has expected rose to1.05 billion in January 2023, according to the Kepios analysis mentioned in datareportal website.

The analysis also showed that expected 1.05 billion of active monthly users of the application are of 18 years and above. The average age of a TikTok user is between 18 and 24 years. Further categorisation of TikTok users on the basis of their age shows that the social media app has 409.1 mn users aged 18 to 24, 340.3 mn users aged 25 to 34, 64.5 mn users aged 35 to 44, 83.6 mn users aged 45 to 54, and 53.9 mn users aged 55 and above. Which means TikTok enjoys a massive share of young population as its audience.