Instagram will soon release to the United States its answer to the popular video-sharing app TikTok.
The social networking service announced on Friday that its new platform, Reels, will be released in August. The app has already been released in Brazil, France, and Germany. The app has also begun testing in India, where TikTok was recently banned over security concerns.
Reels will allow users to create 15-second videos to clips of music and audio. Users will then be able to share those videos to their Instagram Stories or watch them go viral in the “featured reels” section.
TikTok is owned by ByteDance, a company based in China. The Chinese government has a broad ability to demand information from its companies, which is why many are concerned that the app could present a threat.
TikTok is very popular among young people, and it, along with its Chinese counterpart Douyin, has amassed 800 million active users worldwide. Before the ban, India represented 30% of the app’s global downloads.
Many in the U.S. have begun to suggest that TikTok should be banned here as well, with President Trump saying it was something his administration was “looking at.”
This is not the first time that Facebook, Instagram’s parent company, has copied the social media innovations of other platforms or simply acquired them with a buyout. Facebook bought Instagram in 2012. In 2016, Facebook introduced “Stories” to Instagram, which is almost identical to one of the features originally invented by the platform Snapchat.
Reports indicate that YouTube and Snapchat will also be developing their own competitors to the app.
“It’s great to see that tech companies appreciate the refreshing and creative experience TikTok brings people, which has been even more evident as families have been stuck at home in recent months,” a TikTok spokesperson told CNN. “We’ve always believed that open competition provides tremendous benefits to consumers.”
