If you are a frequent user of social media, the news of the “Big Ban" must have reached your eyes and ears. While many are considering it as a joke, I feel sad to inform you that the statement has been officially passed.
Let's begin with what the official statement is:
Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook; all major sites received a notification from the Indian government in regards to customizing their policies after the launch of new social rules. This was done back in February and all these major sites had a deadline of three official months (25 May 2021) to make the necessary changes.
Post that period, the government would be free to put a ban on all such social media platforms that don't follow these rules & policies.
What were these Changes?
The Government had asked all social media platforms to remove the content flagged by the authorities and to appoint an official in the country to set up a complaint redressal mechanism.
Since this task wasn't easy, a time of three months was allotted to all companies. However, none were able to meet the needs of the government, except for the Indian version of Twitter, Koo.
The Verdict
If these platforms do not make an official statement or make the changes accordingly in the next two days, they might just have to face an official ban from operating in India.
In response, a Facebook spokesperson said that they need the support and collaboration of the Indian Government in order to apply these policies into their functioning.
So, does this mean no ban?
Absolutely not! Till the time Facebook actually implements & integrates all these rules & policies into their functions, they might have to face a countrywide ban.
This was about Facebook. So, you might be wondering what about Twitter & Instagram, right?
You might not know but Whats App & Instagram are both owned by Facebook & if Facebook undergoes a ban, so do these applications.
Coming to Twitter, officials haven't reported anything that proves that Twitter has complied with government rules & regulations. This might lead to it's ban in the upcoming days.
However, this news does open a lot of opportunities for Indian applications to take the place of these hurricanes.
What are the Alternatives?
Already looking for alternatives, are you?
Well, don't be too demotivated!
I did some research and here are some applications that you can download as a backup if the unlucky ban takes place.
Koo is a microblogging & social networking platform created in Bangalore, Karnataka, India. Koo has a similar interface to Twitter where users can type by the use of a ‘#’ sign and discover usernames using ‘@’. The plus point of Koo is that it supports many Indian languages such as Hindi, Kannada, Tamil, Telegu, Bengali, and Marathi.
Since there's no one platform that can replace Instagram, here are a few alternatives and the reasons that you can choose to go with them:
Snapchat is no new application for most social media users. It's quite trendy, quite efficient, & a lot of fun to operate. With options such as stories, spotlight, quick chat and more, Snapchat is certainly a viable alternative.
2. 500px
500px is the best Instagram alternative for photographers with enthusiasts from across 195 countries. It's a great app, but only for those interested in photography.
3. Pinterest
Explore and find creative ideas on this amazing application.
4. Tumblr
If Instagram topples, Tumblr can be the second-best choice. With additional features such as posting images, GIFs, videos, and more, it can become a mass community of entertainment.
5. Mx Taka Tak or Moz or Triller
These three are the Indian applications that you can choose if you use Instagram for reels.
While Facebook is not that popular amidst the youth, here are some viable alternatives to Facebook: Diaspora, Vero, Path, Ello, MeWe, Minds, NextDoor, & Niche Networks
Let's hope things don't come to this, but if Whats App were to be banned, given the non-compliance of the company with Indian rules regarding it's latest change in user-agreement, Telegram would be the best alternative to the app. It's easy to use and already has plenty of audience on it!
I think these apps would suffice the need if the ban takes place. If you liked it, share it with others!
