Tick Tock, TikTok

Time is ticking toward a potential ban.

ICYMI, TikTok may be on the way out. If the current law (aka H.R. 815) against the wildly popular Chinese internet company-owned social media platform is upheld, it will be banned in the U.S. Jan. 19* on the grounds of foreign privacy concerns. In short, the U.S. gov is potentially restricting access due to apprehension China is using the app to spy on Americans. 

With that said, a ban wouldn’t simply delete TikTok off your phone or erase the site from the internet, but would rely on internet hosting companies and app stores like Apple and Google. If they distribute or update the app, they’ll face penalties.

The basis of the potential ban prohibits distributing, maintaining or updating any “foreign adversary-controlled application”—so, TikTok. The bill passed with flying colors thanks to bipartisan support and was signed into law by President Biden in April. Under this new legislation, TikTok’s parent company ByteDance has nine months from the law’s passage to find new ownership for the app (so by January). 

Valued at a cool $100 bil, it remains unclear if ByteDance is willing to sell.* But, even if ByteDance does agree to sell and finds a buyer with $100 bil to spare, the path forward is hardly easy. 

The new U.S. TikTok would have to cut all ties with ByteDance and, according to attorneys for the two companies, any sale of the platform without their coveted algorithm (which is unlikely to be transferred upon sale) will leave the U.S. disconnected from global content—and leave the app without a major key to success. 

“You can’t beat an algorithm like that, you know?” emphasizes Lydia Santogade, local social media guru and director of digital marketing and operations at Food Seen. “TikTok’s been the catalyst for a lot of discovery and creativity, so I’m a little worried about how the vibes will change if/when it goes away.”

But the social media giant (and its fans) aren’t going down without a fight—and neither is the U.S. government. TikTok immediately sued the Administration for infringing upon “constitutional rights” and eight TikTok creators sued the U.S. government, while on the other side, several attorney generals are suing the app for harming children’s mental health and the Justice Department threw itself in the ring over children’s privacy laws.

TikTok is slated to be officially banned a day before Inauguration Day, but President-elect Trump has taken a recently vowed to “save TikTok,” regardless of a sale. Despite being behind the first to attempt to ban the platform in 2020, he has been vocal about his apparent change of heart.

To wit, on Dec. 27, Trump urged the Supreme Court to delay the ban while he works on a resolution. The Supreme Court is slated to hear and examine arguments against the law Jan. 10, nine days before the deadline to sell the platform. 

Users of the app have also been vocal about their hopes of disbanding the ban. And the apparent privacy concerns don’t seem to faze TikTok users. “You can spy on me, I don’t care,” said user Reno Prezio. “I don’t feel it’s any different than an American app having our data.” 

If the app does end up outlawed, Santogade predicts there will be a rush to “fill the void” and would like to see a newcomer app join in the fray. “I’m a millennial that lived through the devastation of losing Vine, and then was rewarded with TikTok some years later,” Santogade reminisces. “So I have hope.”

*As of press time