Hindu chauvinistic videos thrive on Chinese app TikTok

At a time when Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sanghs (RSS) economic wing Swadeshi Jagran Manch (SJM) has called for ban on China-based social media apps in the wake of Pulwama terror attack, Hindu chauvinistic videos are thriving on TikTok, a popular China-based app that allows users to create and share short videos.

The SJM called for a ban on China-based social media apps after the neighbouring country refused to help India get the Jaish-e-Mohammad chief Masood Azhar declared a "global terrorist".

The plea to ban Chinese apps came days after more than 40 CRPF troopers were killed in a deadly suicide attack in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama district.

But a quick search on the TikTok app, owned by Chinese tech company ByteDance, shows that Hindu chauvinistic content is very popular among its users.

While a search for #Ayodhya showed 14.1 million views on Tuesday, the RSS tag had nearly 64.5 million views.

Released in China in 2016, TikTok has over 24,5 million daily active users in India, according to data from web analytics service SimilarWeb.

In a letter addressed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, SJM co-convener Ashwani Mahajan said that "dastardly terrorist attack in Pulwama has shaken the conscience of the nation and at this time steps should be taken to prevent the economic gain of any nation that directly or tacitly supports such terrorists".

"At such a time, we believe it is imperative that the government create similar hurdles for Chinese companies that are using India for their economic gain," SJM said in a statement.

"As has been said often, data is now considered the new oil. We should not allow Chinese companies to capture Indian user data without any restrictions and monitoring."

The SJM added that Chinese social media apps including TikTok and Helo are being used to spread child pornographic content and possibly anti-national activities.-IANS