TikTok creators in India are still mourning the sudden closure of the service in the country last year as tensions between New Delhi and Beijing flared.
After the viral social media app was shut down in June on security grounds when India and China clashed on a remote Himalayan border, the creators lost millions of followers overnight.
“I pray every single day for TikTok to come back. How can a small app manage to piss off the entire country?” asked one 29-year-old former TikTok star in India who had 1.5m followers. Along with other creators, he has since shifted to Instagram and YouTube Shorts, TikTok’s western competitors, as hope dwindles that the India ban on the service will be lifted.