US social media giants gain from ban on Chinese apps

The ban on Chinese apps, especially popular ones like ByteDance’s TikTok and Helo, is resulting in a windfall for US social media giants like Instagram, Facebook and YouTube.

Since the government banned 59 Chinese apps on June 30, the average daily time spent on Instagram has more than doubled (up 2.3 times), and Facebook has also seen a significant jump in the time spent on the platform.

Interestingly, the time being spent by Indians on social media and video apps in a day has not come down by a large degree, indicating that users have jumped ship and have switched over to new platforms, according to a study by online insights measurement company Kantar.