On March 13, the US House of Representatives passed a bill that would either force TikTok to be sold to a different owner, or effectively ban it. Proponents of the bill argue that these measures are necessary to protect the personal data of Americans from being shared with the Chinese government. Its opponents claim that sanctioning TikTok would violate the freedom of speech and hurt the economy, as many small businesses use the platform to promote their goods and services.
Should the US government completely ban TikTok, its 170 million American users will have to join a new app looking to cover the gap in the market of short video platforms.
India serves as a good example. When the government prohibited TikTok along with 58 other Chinese apps in 2021, a host of local apps appeared to pounce on the opportunity, and quickly replaced their foreign competitor. Some of the most successful ones include Chingari, Josh, and Mitron.
Chingari is an especially interesting case, as it was able to quickly pivot towards the short video format by using Banuba Video Editor SDK – a video editor like TikTok that can be quickly integrated into an app. Potentially, utilizing such tools could cut the time-to-market by up to 50%.
Banuba Video Editor SDK provides tools and resources for creating, editing, and manipulating video content, including, but not limited to:
- TikTok-like video editing suite
- Audio editing
- Royalty-free music provider integration
- Picture-in-picture mode (duets)
- AR masks
- Color filters
- Transition effects, etc.
Over 100 Indian companies turned to Banuba for Video Editor SDK and Face AR SDK so that their products could be released earlier or upgraded. Some have also requested custom filters with a local feel (e.g. ones resembling traditional Indian jewelry) in addition to the 24 effects supplied for free to every client.
Banning TikTok will likely cause a similar “gold rush,” as the companies scramble to attract their share of users looking for the same experience as the now-forbidden app used to give. Startups researching how to build an app like TikTok could use a tool like Banuba Video Editor SDK to get an edge over their competitors.
About Banuba
Banuba is an augmented reality company with over 7 years on the market, pioneering face tracking and virtual background technologies. Its other products include a virtual try-on SDK for jewelry and glasses, Face AR SDK – a software development kit for various AR applications, and Video Editor SDK – a compact and feature-rich mobile kit for video editing.
View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240318917333/en/