It looks like the popularity of the video creating and sharing app, TikTok isn’t slowing down anytime soon. The platform now has over a billion downloads just on Android smartphones. While the market research firm, Sensor Tower did report that the app had crossed 1.5 billion downloads back in November last year, but that was the combined the numbers from iOS and Android.
TikTok seems to have really become popular since the world started to go into lockdown. Users seem to find solace in watching strangers create short creative videos while doing the same themselves. To be honest, there is very little for them to do during this time, anyway.
Of course, as with any other social media platform. It does come with its own share of controversies. The platform has become a big source of fake news. Recently, 10 people, comprising of two families ended up in the hospital after trying out a ‘home remedy’ for the COVID-19 Coronavirus they allegedly saw on TikTok. The video claimed that drinking juice made from the seeds of Datura Stramonium plant would keep the virus away.
Of course, fake remedies are only a part of the misinformation that can be spread on the platform that also has people blaming a particular religion of group from the spread of COVID-19. In order to curb this, the Indian government has asked TikTok and Facebook to remove users spreading such news on their platforms.