China’s Bytedance says India TikTok ban causing $500,000 daily loss, risks jobs – Reuters
What happened: India’s ban on short video app TikTok is causing losses of $500,000 a day for Bytedance and putting more than 250 jobs at risk, Reuters reported, citing a filing to India’s Supreme Court from the company. Bytedance stated in the filing dated Saturday that the losses include devaluation of its investments, loss of commercial revenue, and damage to its reputation. The company has also been losing close to one million new users per day. In the filing, Bytedance requested the court to quash the ban on the app and inform Google and Apple to make the app available again on their respective app stores.
Why it’s important: Bytedance has been making statements expressing confidence about TikTok’s prospects in India, but the latest filing suggests that the viral video app could face a bleak future there. Bytedance’s recent filing also casts doubt on statements made by an executive saying that the company will invest $1 billion in India over the next three years and increase the number of employees in the country to 1,000 by the end of 2019. While the case is still ongoing, the fact that India’s Supreme court rejected Bytedance’s request to stay the ban on TikTok once could mean continued losses for the company.