There is a possibility that a TikTok ban could hit the U.S
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The fine print makes it illegal for any such entities to “distribute, maintain, or update (or enable the distribution, maintenance, or updating of) a foreign adversary controlled application” either through a marketplace or internet hosting services.
In mid-December, Democrats on a House committee dealing with competition between the U.S. and China sent letters to the CEOs of Apple and Google warning the companies to take steps to ensure they can “fully comply with this requirement” by the deadline — which would have an immediate impact on users.
There are also ways to download TikTok outside the Google and Apple app stores, through processes respectively known as “sideloading” and “jailbreaking.”
They are commonly used in countries with strict internet restrictions to access blocked social media platforms, streaming services and other geographically limited content.
One of the most-discussed workarounds is something called a virtual private network, or VPN, which encrypts users’ location data and makes it look like they are accessing content from another country.
The Supreme Court heard oral arguments on Friday from TikTok and the US government, which respectively made their cases for and against a law passed last year that would force TikTok to sell its US operations or be banned by January 19. Many users feel that the days of the app are numbered because the justices appear to think that the law is constitutional. The removal of TikTok from the US app stores will cause a lot of panic among people who downloaded it, and make them look for a new place to go.
TikTok officials say it is possible that on Jan. 19, when U.S. users try to open the app, a prompt will show up indicating the service is no longer available in the country. This is what happens when someone tries to launch TikTok in India, which banned the app in 2020.
US Trade-Off Concerns with TikTok: Implications for Foreign-Own Apps and the Preserving Americans From Foreign Adversary Applications Act
It’s not clear whether the service will get worse over time or if it will be a matter of days, weeks or months.
And without the ability to update, the platform won’t be able to fix bugs, add features or address security concerns. It could potentially become incompatible with certain phones, if it becomes incompatible with the operating system.
China will face a protectionist administration when Trump is sworn in next week. He promised that tariffs on Chinese imports could hurt the economy. The President-elect’s warm spot for the app could have made it an effective bargaining chip for the Chinese government. According to sources, Chinese officials see a potential partnership with the US on TikTok as they anticipate tense discussions with the Trump administration on other issues.
The Preserving Americans From Foreign Adversary Applications Act (PAFACA) was signed into law in April of 2020 and grants the government the authority to ban foreign-owned apps that it deems a threat to national security.
It’s no coincidence that the potential ban would take effect on Jan. 19, the last full day of Biden’s term. Donald Trump has a strong view of TikTok and he will have the final say on it.
But it will get harder for the platform’s users in the U.S. to access the app, says Kate Ruane, director of the Free Expression Project at the Center for Democracy and Technology (which joined an amicus brief supporting TikTok and its users’ protected speech).
“It is a barrier to accessing the application and it is also something that you would have to weigh, like ‘ Is it really worth it to me to access TikTok, to do all of this or learn how to do all of these required technical things?'” she says. ” I think for a number of users who are just casually using the application, the answer will probably be no.”
During his initial term, Trump even tried to ban the app, but since then he has become a ardent supporter of the platform and asked the Supreme Court to stop the start date of the law in question.
Under the statute, Trump could decide if ByteDance has engaged in a “qualified divestiture” of TikTok after all, as long as it has taken certain steps to that effect.
TikTok, Apple, and Lemon 8, or “Little Red Book”: How to Protect a Little Red Book from a Legal Violation of the Trade-Off Law
“That’s easy to do, but it’s incredibly challenging to do because of the number of members of Congress who have to change their votes,” he says.
The second option is to tell the Justice Department and attorney general not to enforce the law, which would give Apple and others the option to provide services to TikTok.
But Ruane says that’s also easier said than done, as lawyers within those companies would still see — and likely seek to avoid — “gigantic legal risk” in flouting the law, which includes hefty penalties.
If someone uses your service to access TikTok and they are in violation of the law it would cost them $5,000. Even though you’re technically in violation of the law, it would take 5000 dollars for you to continue to provide services to TikTok despite being in violation.
The third potential option has been posited by Alan Rozenshtein, an associate law professor at the University of Minnesota Law School and research director at Lawfare. As he told NPR’s Fresh Air in December, Trump could “just declare that the law no longer applies.”
The deal had support from the Biden administration, but those talks came to a halt. People close to talks about TikTok’s future say it is possible Trump brings Project Texas back, with Trump potentially determining that the agreement makes TikTok in compliance with the divest-or-ban law.
When the Supreme Court makes a decision on whether or not to forbid TikTok, users flee to another Chinese platform called XiaoHONGshu, which means “little red book” in Mandarin. Xiaohongshu is the most downloaded app in the US App Store despite the fact that it doesn’t have an official English name. Lemon8, a social media app that ByteDance owns, is experiencing a traffic surge from exiled TikTok users.
Some users will go to both of those, but others will stick with the platform developed by a Chinese company to protest the decisions made by US lawmakers. “Telling me to download Rednote out of spite over the TikTok ban was the only push I needed actually,” one person wrote on Bluesky. Internet culture journalist Taylor Lorenz also shared a link to her Xiaohongshu account on Bluesky, calling the platform “the hottest new social app in America.”
Musk is uniquely positioned to play a role in a potential deal. He has a direct line to Trump, has talked to Chinese authorities before, and he wants X to be more like TikTok. (Sales from China account for a significant share of Tesla’s business.) He could build a new platform with X and xAI, his competitors. As the richest man in the world, he also has access to the money he’d need to do a deal.
Long Le, an international business professor at Santa Clara University, tells The Verge that China may be open to a joint venture arrangement, similar to what foreign companies operating in China often undergo. If someone from one of those countries holds at least 20 percent in the app, it’s considered to be controlled by a foreign adversary.
“If they were going to do some type of joint adventure, Elon Musk would be ideal because he’s also close to Trump,” Le says, adding that the Chinese government may already feel comfortable with him. “Having someone like Musk would still allow the US and China to have some aspects of linkage to trade and foreign direct investment, even though, in general, the decoupling is occurring.”