![\"\"](\"https:\/\/lh6.googleusercontent.com\/C0362BF3ss_nWiKEe1yju-9I0cCCUyWwjs1YDE1m2MxcAbNv3n83aqjyBVB90070l6En0rHTtilrMxs6iy8SZbU2I516ft-WXuUtBQpl2YlLTV2VGobLgPgerEaLEjKlZJdlSNDR\" "\\"\\"")
What is Koo App? <\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nKoo is a micro-blogging platform which was developed by Aprameya Radhakrishna and Mayank Bidawatka in March 2020 but was floated in May of the same year. The app won the Aatmanirbhar<\/a> App Challenge organized by the Indian government in August 2020. It has a similar interface with Twitter and its rise is hinged on the stormy path Twitter took with government authorities in India and most recently in Nigeria.<\/p>\n\n\n\nLike Twitter, Koo can be used to profess views and opinions on various topics as well as allow users to follow other users, conduct polls, share photos, audio and video with a Direct Message (DM) to facilitate chat with each other. It also allows users to place their posts with hashtags and the @ sign also comes before a username, to mention or reply to other users. Koo uses a yellow and white interface and like the blue-bird app, a verified account is given a yellow tick to indicate its authenticity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A check on Google Play Store shows it has been downloaded over 5 million times. Apart from English, the application features some local languages spoken in India such as, Bengali, Hindi, Kannada, Marathi, Tamil and Telugu. However, the co-founder and CEO, Aprameya wrote on the microblogging app that: \u201cKoo is available in Nieria. We\u2019re thinking of enabling the local languages there too. What say?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/lh6.googleusercontent.com\/oM9UbtEdIXPKz88j9DczlMgt5WSrIF-prA6mB_64YNQSk36tJlJdF5rWPrDdowf7qIm1BcxAHUgBcByXJCcd-dcNFpc9kUXTtaUpaq8NycdaWBssFGqOG-1X5hm6liJkYBEuu61D\" "\\"\\"")
A screen grab showing the app has been downloaded over 5 million times on Google Play Store <\/em><\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\nHow it rose to prominence<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nIn an interview with Financial Express online<\/a>, the co-founders of the microblogging app said they initiated the app to give a voice to everybody in India and chose the yellow bird to symbolise a happy bird spreading good messages among the community in India. <\/p>\n\n\n\nThe rise of Koo is however credited to not only its winning of the Indian government\u2019s Atma Nirbhar App Innovation Challenge but a row<\/a> between Twitter and the Government of India in which a show of supremacy led to government officials dumping twitter for the new app. Since then, Koo has seen a surge in usage. Its fortunes also increased following another standoff between Twitter and the Nigeria government with the later suspending access to the microblog in the country on June 5, 2021. Koo\u2019s similarity with Twitter has made netizens in Nigeria crave for a platform to garner information on-the-go switch alliance. \u201cThe Nigerian government\u2019s decision to join Koo after banning Twitter reinforces its position as an alternative platform to Twitter,\u201d says Pranav Mukul, an Indian journalist with the Indian Express<\/a>. With its newfound fame, Koo announced a $30 million fundraise from marquee investors including Tiger Global at a time Indian authorities were turning the heat on Twitter. The fund-raise saw Koo\u2019s valuation jump nearly five-fold to $100 million.<\/p>\n\n\n\nWho is on the Koo app?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nSince the Nigerian government joined the app with a verified handle @nigeriagov, other Nigerians including President Muhammadu Buhari with a verified handle (@muhammadubuhari) and his Personal Assistant on Digital and New Media, Bashir Ahmad have joined. A Koo handle claiming to be that of the First Lady Aisha Buhari (@A_Buhrari) has equally suffaced. Activist and former Senator representing Kaduna Central, Shehu Sani (@Sen.shehuSani) have been active on the platform as well as Kanywood celebrities such as Hadiza Gabon (@Hadiza_Aliyu) and Rahama Sadau (@Rahama).<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/lh4.googleusercontent.com\/kPF96PDH8w79rxvFMpIPtboh8MWkm-SOqiCQMf34ri7Uzs8km5CCr_SRp4CRp8qrYjCfW8ecgFVBtCP7SEj0q4j7AIbi57T4nzV3BVa90V0wD_Wu53poUCUVuS9ZkMNLUblTl-_5\" "\\"\\"")
A verified Koo handle of President Muhammadu Buhari (@muhammadubuhari)<\/em><\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\nWill the new app solve FG\u2019s headache?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nThe Nigerian Government had accused Twitter for churning out fake news and hate speech on its platform with the site not taking any action. In response to the platform deleting President Muhammadu Buhari’s tweet, the Nigerian Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed had accused Twitter of double standards and allowing it to be used to undermine the country\u2019s corporate existence. With the recent migration of the Nigerian government to Koo, it is uncertain if the government can still checkmate fake news and hate speech in the new platform. However, when asked about fake news the co-founders said: “This<\/a> is one of those topics that falls in the grey area. A lot of policies are yet to be put in place as far as social media is concerned. Because unlike publishers, this is not curated content. If this was a simple question, we won\u2019t be discussing it. We would have answers for it. The global platform would have had answers for it. We are dealing with social media, which means we are dealing with a space where people have the freedom to express themselves and there will be unscrupulous elements which will plug in some sort of fake news on a platform waiting for it to explode.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\nThey were optimistic that it can be tackled by service providers going to the source of the news and trying to figure out where it came from. Commenting on hate that has become the bane of the World Wide Web, they said that since the company is registered and bound by law, it will ensure a healthy conversation, and that is what the app stands for.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Like Twitter, Koo can be used to profess views and opinions on various topics as well as allow users to follow other users, conduct polls, share photos, audio and video with a Direct Message (DM) to facilitate chat with each other. It also allows users to place their posts with hashtags and the @ sign also comes before a username, to mention or reply to other users. Koo uses a yellow and white interface and like the blue-bird app, a verified account is given a yellow tick to indicate its authenticity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A check on Google Play Store shows it has been downloaded over 5 million times. Apart from English, the application features some local languages spoken in India such as, Bengali, Hindi, Kannada, Marathi, Tamil and Telugu. However, the co-founder and CEO, Aprameya wrote on the microblogging app that: \u201cKoo is available in Nieria. We\u2019re thinking of enabling the local languages there too. What say?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n In an interview with Financial Express online<\/a>, the co-founders of the microblogging app said they initiated the app to give a voice to everybody in India and chose the yellow bird to symbolise a happy bird spreading good messages among the community in India. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The rise of Koo is however credited to not only its winning of the Indian government\u2019s Atma Nirbhar App Innovation Challenge but a row<\/a> between Twitter and the Government of India in which a show of supremacy led to government officials dumping twitter for the new app. Since then, Koo has seen a surge in usage. Its fortunes also increased following another standoff between Twitter and the Nigeria government with the later suspending access to the microblog in the country on June 5, 2021. Koo\u2019s similarity with Twitter has made netizens in Nigeria crave for a platform to garner information on-the-go switch alliance. \u201cThe Nigerian government\u2019s decision to join Koo after banning Twitter reinforces its position as an alternative platform to Twitter,\u201d says Pranav Mukul, an Indian journalist with the Indian Express<\/a>. With its newfound fame, Koo announced a $30 million fundraise from marquee investors including Tiger Global at a time Indian authorities were turning the heat on Twitter. The fund-raise saw Koo\u2019s valuation jump nearly five-fold to $100 million.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Since the Nigerian government joined the app with a verified handle @nigeriagov, other Nigerians including President Muhammadu Buhari with a verified handle (@muhammadubuhari) and his Personal Assistant on Digital and New Media, Bashir Ahmad have joined. A Koo handle claiming to be that of the First Lady Aisha Buhari (@A_Buhrari) has equally suffaced. Activist and former Senator representing Kaduna Central, Shehu Sani (@Sen.shehuSani) have been active on the platform as well as Kanywood celebrities such as Hadiza Gabon (@Hadiza_Aliyu) and Rahama Sadau (@Rahama).<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Nigerian Government had accused Twitter for churning out fake news and hate speech on its platform with the site not taking any action. In response to the platform deleting President Muhammadu Buhari’s tweet, the Nigerian Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed had accused Twitter of double standards and allowing it to be used to undermine the country\u2019s corporate existence. With the recent migration of the Nigerian government to Koo, it is uncertain if the government can still checkmate fake news and hate speech in the new platform. However, when asked about fake news the co-founders said: “This<\/a> is one of those topics that falls in the grey area. A lot of policies are yet to be put in place as far as social media is concerned. Because unlike publishers, this is not curated content. If this was a simple question, we won\u2019t be discussing it. We would have answers for it. The global platform would have had answers for it. We are dealing with social media, which means we are dealing with a space where people have the freedom to express themselves and there will be unscrupulous elements which will plug in some sort of fake news on a platform waiting for it to explode.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n They were optimistic that it can be tackled by service providers going to the source of the news and trying to figure out where it came from. Commenting on hate that has become the bane of the World Wide Web, they said that since the company is registered and bound by law, it will ensure a healthy conversation, and that is what the app stands for.<\/p>\n\n\n\nHow it rose to prominence<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Who is on the Koo app?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Will the new app solve FG\u2019s headache?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n