Facebook launches Instagram Reels for short-form video content just days after TikTok ban

Instagram, on June 8, announced that it was officially rolling out 'Reels' in India. The TikTok like feature allows users to create short-form videos set to music or other audio in the background.

According to reports, the Facebook-owned platform officially started testing it last year and has already launched the format in various countries including Brazil, France, and Germany.

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Meanwhile, experts have claimed that the new feature is a gimmick to cash on the recent TikTok ban in India. However, Ajit Mohan, Head of Facebook India, has dismissed the claim that the rollout is related to the decision on TikTok.

Speaking to media reporters, Mohan said that videos are already a popular medium for Indians to engage on Instagram. Elaborating further, the Facebook official stated that videos made up over a third of all Instagram posts in India adding that 45 percent of them were already 15 seconds or less. 

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TikTok ban

Union Home Ministry, on June 29, banned 59 Chinese apps including the video-sharing app TikTok. According to reports, the decision was taken after the Centre revealed that it received many complaints from various sources about the misuse of these apps for stealing and surreptitiously transmitting users’ data in an unauthorised manner to servers which have locations outside India. However, the decision left not only TikTokers but many other in a ‘deep state of shock’.

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