Twitter’s India clash buoys local rival Koo to 10 million users

The American social media network has repeatedly clashed with India’s government over the content on its platform. — Dreamstime/TNS

Koo, India’s alternative to Twitter Inc, has surged past 10 million users to narrow the gap with the US microblogging site after its repeated clashes with the local government over the past few months.

The 16-month-old app, which allows users to send tweet-like posts in English and seven Indian languages such as Hindi and Kannada, has seen about 85% of its users join since February, when Twitter’s disputes with the Modi administration escalated. Government ministers, opposition politicians, cricket stars and Bollywood celebrities have since begun posting in Indian languages on Koo.