CapCut is a short-form video editing app developed by the Chinese company ByteDance, which also owns TikTok. It is designed for both beginners and advanced users, and is equipped with several video editing tools for creating professional quality videos. The app was first released in China in 2019 and was available for both Android and iOS devices. CapCut was released internationally in 2020 and expanded to desktop and web versions for Windows and Mac.
CapCut has a number of features, including cutting/trimming/splitting/merging video clips and adding music, effects, filters, transitions, stickers and texts. Furthermore, the platform has many advanced capabilities like background removal, auto captions, text-to-speech, speed adjustments, key frame animation and stabilisation. CapCut had reached 200 million active users in June 2022. By March 2023, it was the second-most downloaded app in the US. CapCut has clocked over 1 billion downloads on Play Store till date.
Status in India
CapCut is banned in India. On 29th June 2020, the Government of India imposed a permanent ban on CapCut and more than 50 other Chinese apps. The decision to ban CapCut and other Chinese apps was taken within days of clashes between the Indian and Chinese security forces at the Galwan Valley in Ladakh. As a result of the ban, CapCut was removed from the Google Play Store and Apple App Store in India, and its website was blocked in the country.
The ban was enacted under Section 69A of the Information Technology Act, 2000. This particular law enables the Indian government to ban online content in the interest of national security, public order or to prevent incitement to any cognizable offence. The ban was announced by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology of the Government of India.
CapCut is not likely to be restored in India anytime soon. Recently, the Minister for Electronics and Information Technology, Ashwini Vaishnav, ruled out the possibility of allowing any ByteDance platform in India.
Reasons for banning CapCut
CapCut was banned because it is a product of ByteDance. Another app owned by ByteDance, named TikTok, was banned by the Government of India. The Indian government was concerned about ByteDance sharing user data of CapCut and TikTok platforms with the Chinese authorities, thereby posing a grave risk to India’s national security. It is pertinent to mention here that CapCut’s privacy policy allows data sharing with ByteDance’s affiliates.
CapCut’s opaque data practices and the potential to misuse user data was the core reason for its ban in India. However, broader geopolitical considerations following the border incident in Galwan also played a significant role in the ban.
Santosh Kumar is a Professional SEO and Blogger, With the help of this blog he is trying to share top 10 lists, facts, entertainment news from India and all around the world.
