With over 200 million active users, India was TikTok’s largest overseas market. Rural folks and farmers became social media influencers and celebrities.

Mahesh Kapse is a viral TikTok star from Veni, a village 11 hours out from Mumbai. He rose to fame by speed painting Indian celebrities and international cricket players, gaining 1.2 million fans in a month, earning an income almost four times what his family earns from farming.

However, Mahesh’s livelihood was threatened when local police clamped down on influencers who spread misinformation on the COVID-19 pandemic, like Riyaz Ali, with over 43 million followers, who released a video claiming that the pandemic was over. Incidents like this triggered a series of arrests by the Mumbai police.

On June 29, 2020, India banned TikTok along with 117 other Chinese apps, in the wake of a violent border dispute with China. James Crabtree from Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy regards this as a move that influenced Donald Trump administration’s ban on TikTok in the US.

Is the backlash against this Chinese-owned app necessary? How will the newfound livelihoods of influencers like Mahesh be affected?

*Edit: At 4:04, the commentator's name should read 'Yu Liuqing'.

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