What is the TikTok ban?
On Apr. 24, 2024, president Biden signed the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Applications Act, a law requiring ByteDance, TikTok’s parent company, to sell the app by Jan. 19, 2025. If they fail to do so, TikTok will no longer be available to download and internet service providers will be legally prohibited from allowing users to access the app on U.S. internet browsers. TikTok has millions of users across the U.S., making it one of America’s most-used social media platforms for entertainment. U.S. lawmakers argue that the Chinese-owned app poses a national security threat. However, TikTok and ByteDance have denied handing over data to the Chinese government.
What is Donald Trump doing about the ban?
Donald Trump’s victory in the 2024 election could offer TikTok a lifeline. During his presidency in 2020, Trump tried to ban TikTok. However, TikTok was instrumental in garnering support for his 2024 presidential campaign. He now calls on the U.S. Supreme Court to delay the ban while he works on a “political resolution”, since Trump’s inauguration is on Jan. 20, the day after the ban. Trump can pause the ban for 60-90 days if ByteDance shows evidence that the company is moving away from ownership of TikTok. He could declare that TikTok is fulfilling the requirements of the law, but this assertion could easily be challenged in court if untrue.
What is the U.S. Supreme Court doing?
After Biden signed the legislation to ban TikTok in Apr. 2024, ByteDance sued the US Government claiming the law was unconstitutional because it restricted freedom of speech. In Dec. 2024, a federal appeals court upheld the law’s constitutionality. The case then made its way to The Supreme Court, which heard TikTok and Bytedance’s arguments against the law on Jan. 10. On Friday, Jan. 17, the Supreme Court unanimously upheld the law that will ban TikTok from the App Store unless its parent company sells it off. A lawyer representing TikTok and ByteDance told the Supreme Court that if the ban goes ahead, the app will “go dark” in the U.S. on Jan. 19. The CEO of TikTok, Shou Zi Chew, has stated that he will not sell TikTok to an American company.
What is RedNote?
As the TikTok ban looms, another Chinese-owned app, RedNote, has become increasingly popular in the United States. The app called “XiaoHongshu” in Chinese, which translates to “Little Red Book”, is China’s version of Instagram. Despite its foreign ownership, Americans are collectively migrating to RedNote, calling it “The TikTok Refuge”. Some users have even gone to the length of learning Chinese, as most RedNote users do not speak English as a first language.
Is the ban being extended by 270 days?
The Extend the TikTok Deadline Act has been introduced in the Senate. When Biden signed the law banning TikTok, he gave ByteDance 270 days, or until Jan. 19, 2025, to sell the app. The new bill introduced by Senator Ed Markey and others would give ByteDance an additional 270 days from the January deadline. This would make the new ban deadline Oct. 15, 2025. However, lawmakers have not put it to a vote nor passed the legislation into law. The consensus stands that this bill will not receive enough votes to counter the existing law.
What are the chances that TikTok won’t be banned?
Separate from Donald Trump’s efforts to pause the ban, rumors have been circulating that Elon Musk may acquire TikTok’s U.S. operations, effectively allowing the app to evade a ban. It is still uncertain what Musk plans to do. As of now, the chances of TikTok not being banned are low, unless ByteDance sells the app or the ban is extended until Trump has taken office.
How is Meta’s ending of fact-checking related to the TikTok ban?
Meta’s CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced that Facebook will end fact-checking through a third party. The company stated that they will move to a “community notes model”, meaning other users can add context or correct posts that populate their apps such as Facebook and Instagram. Meta claims that this change is to fight against censorship in the media. The backlash against the TikTok ban is also based on protests against government intervention in the freedom of speech and expression. Yet, there have been starkly different responses as to how much control government entities should have in the algorithms we interact with. This shift from Meta coupled with the TikTok ban illustrates the growing importance of social media in the protection of the First Amendment right to free speech.
What will happen to the app after the ban?
If TikTok gets banned, there are two possibilities for the future of the app. The company may decide to immediately shut the app down for all users. Alternatively, the app will most likely stay on phones. However, it will be removed from app stores, meaning no new users can download the app. It also means the app will likely crash since there will not be any updates to fix frequent glitches. If TikTok does not “go dark”, you can still access it through a VPN or the desktop interface of the app. There are a few simple steps to save your data: go to your Profile page, tap the menu button, navigate to settings and privacy, choose your account, and then download your data. Depending on how much content you have, the process may take a few days.
Works Cited
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Cross, Greta, and Anthony Robledo. “Is TikTok Really Getting Banned This Month? What to Know before the Supreme Court Hearing.” USA TODAY, 7 Jan. 2025, www.usatoday.com/story/tech/news/2025/01/06/us-tiktok-ban-trump-supreme-court/77495963007/.
Fung, Katherine. “TikTok Ban Extension: What We Know and What Could Happen in 270 Days.” Newsweek, 14 Jan. 2025, www.newsweek.com/tiktok-ban-extension-senate-270-days-2014993.
Jr, Fernando Cervantes. “What to Know about RedNote, the App That Americans Are Downloading in Case of TikTok Ban.” Pontiac Daily Leader, USA TODAY, 16 Jan. 2025, www.pontiacdailyleader.com/story/news/2025/01/16/what-is-rednote-tiktok-ban/77726135007/. Accessed 16 Jan. 2025.
Kaplan, Joel. “More Speech and Fewer Mistakes.” Meta, 7 January 2025, https://about.fb.com/news/2025/01/meta-more-speech-fewer-mistakes/. Accessed 18 January 2025.
Kutz, Anna. “What Happens If TikTok Is Banned? Will App and Data Disappear?” WFLA, Jan. 2025, https://doi.org/10362288.m3u8. Accessed 16 Jan. 2025.
Lahiri, Anusuya. “TikTok Set for a Ban on Jan 19 by Law, but Trump Has Other Plans.” Yahoo Finance, 2 Jan. 2025, finance.yahoo.com/news/tiktok-set-ban-jan-19-183619384.html. Accessed 16 Jan. 2025.
McMahon, Liv. “US TikTok Ban: When and Why Could the App Be Outlawed?” BBC News, 16 Sept. 2024, www.bbc.com/news/technology-53476117.
