VIRAL NEWS OF SHUNNING CHINESE PRODUCTS

Currently India is facing rising tensions with China across the Line of Actual Control (LAC) due to differing perceptions about the border. The world is struggling with the pandemic, Covid-19 which originated in Wuhan, China. A rising concern endorsed by netizens, celebrities and influencers like Sonam Wangchuk, Milind Soman, etc is that while soldiers are fighting troops on the border, we are buying Chinese goods thereby benefitting China raise enough money to pay their soldiers. In today’s era everything has an app. Tiktok and Helo app own a considerable market share in the economy. #BoycottChina, #BoycottMadeinChina, #BoycottChineseApps and #BoycottTiktok is trending on social media. Further an app named ‘Remove China Apps’, gained popularity among Android users. It was endorsed by leading right wing figures. The application managed to gain 5 million users over a period of 2 weeks. These apps have been tapping into an increasing anti-China sentiment visible on digital platforms like Twitter, WhatsApp and Facebook. A significant majority of that ire has been directed against apps like the ByteDance-owned short video app TikTok, which has been framed as the “focal point of the anti-China” digital protests, as some involved in it describe in hush tones. However Google took down the ‘Remove China Apps’ on the ground that it is not authentic as it violated Google Store policies.