> why india didn't ban facebook, instagram, youtube, etc
Has India almost went to war with the US in the last 5 years? No.
Has India almost went to war with China in the last 5 years? Yes.
That's why.
Before 2020, Chinese firms were trying to expand into India as their ideal target market. In retaliation for Galwan, they got kicked out.
> would build up their own tech giants
Why?
How many global software giants can you name from Israel, Japan, or South Korea (let alone the entire EU)?
The biggest reason that countries like Israel were able to rapidly develop was because of the soft power of being so integrated in the American tech industry.
IP driven industries like ICT, Pharmaecuticals, Semiconductors, and Finance represent 33% of Indian exports [0] but 10% of China's [1], and India's entire R&D capacity was built by western private sector companies like IBM, GE, TI, Intel, Nvidia, Apple, etc.
Kicking them out is economic and research suicide for India.
> I'm surprised that tiktok has been able to maintain its top spot for so long
Because every other country uses it because it's so popular.
[Is it just me or has HN gotten dumber recently?]
[0] - https://atlas.cid.harvard.edu/countries/104/export-basket
[1] - https://atlas.cid.harvard.edu/countries/43/export-basket