TikTok’s rating drops after Internet war erupts with online influencers

Short video platform TikTok’s user rating dropped to 2 stars on Tuesday on the Google Play Store from 4.6 last week following a heated online battle between a YouTube influencer and TikTok creator in India.

It started when TikTok creator Amir Siddiqui posted a video on Facebook-owned Instagram calling out YouTubers.

In his video, Siddiqui accused YouTubers of plagiarizing TikTok content and losing out on brand endorsements.

Joining the battle, popular roaster Ajey Nagar, known as CarryMinati, lashed out on YouTube against Siddiqui in an expletive-laden video which garnered millions of views, but was later taken down for violating the platform’s terms of service.

After his video was deleted, Nagar’s fans started a trend #RoastNahiFryKarunga and #BanTikTok on Twitter.

#BanTikTokInIndia, #TikTokdown, #TikTokexposed were also trending on the micro-blogging platform.

Twitter also saw an explosion of memes targeting TikTok and Amir Siddiqui, urging people to downgrade the app.

Several anti-China and TikTok critics jumped on the bandwagon asking for a ban on the ByteDance-owned platform, accusing its creators of promoting violence, hate, and acid attacks.

“Given the instances in recent times, YouTube seems to be working slightly harder to remove content that is reported. The same cannot be said about TikTok. However, it can’t be judged sweepingly by the worst kind available on the platform,” said Karthik Srinivasan, an independent communications consultant and former national lead, social, at Ogilvy.

“It spearheaded the trend to bring new kinds of people on social media. It became a verb for uncool in cities, which is unfair.”

A TikTok spokesperson said: “…we do not allow content that risks safety of others, promotes physical harm or glorifies violence against women. The behaviour in question violates our guidelines and we have taken down content, suspended the account, and are working with law enforcement agencies as appropriate.”

While hashtags asking for a ban on TikTok are not new, the recent campaign not only targets the Chinese platform but also its creators, who largely hail from small towns.

According to marketing and analytics firm Semrush, over 48% of netizens tweeted negatively about TikTok in the last two days, while over 20% agreed that the app should be banned.