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TikTok fans in the U.S. are racing to secure alternatives and safeguard their digital empires ahead of a looming shutdown on Sunday, evoking the chaos of India's 2020 ban that erased the app from the lives of 200 million users overnight.
While the U.S. ban has been debated for months, India acted swiftly in June 2020 to block TikTok and nearly 60 other Chinese apps over national security concerns, stripping many creators of their main source of income and shattering a digital community.
The disruption forced content creators to rebuild their followings and businesses on new homegrown apps and established platforms such as Meta-owned Instagram, which emerged as a big winner of the ban.
While top influencers successfully made the switch and even expanded their audiences, smaller creators struggled to achieve the same success.
Gaurav Arora, who had 10.8 million followers on TikTok and bears an uncanny resemblance to Indian cricketer Virat Kohli, said he had to act quickly.
The vacuum left by TikTok drove a surge toward domestic platforms like Moj and Josh, especially in India's smaller towns and rural areas, where TikTok had transformed locals into stars, showcasing everything from dance routines to personal stories.
Moj and Josh, launched just a month after the ban, have seen lifetime downloads of roughly 360 million and 308 million, respectively, in the country, according to market intelligence firm Sensor Tower.