A proposed ban on TikTok, a video-sharing app owned by Chinese company ByteDance, has been approved by Congress and is now awaiting President Biden’s signature. The ban would give ByteDance nine months to sell the company or face an outright ban. If a sale is in progress, the company would get an additional three months to complete it.
This means that it would be at least a year before a ban could go into effect, and potential legal challenges could extend this timeline even further. Even if a ban does take effect, TikTok would likely not disappear from users’ phones immediately. However, it would no longer be available in Apple and Google’s app stores, which means users would not be able to download it or receive updates and security patches.
Some users may attempt to circumvent the ban using VPNs, alternative app stores, or foreign SIM cards. However, this would require some technical savvy and may not be successful. It’s more likely that users will migrate to other platforms such as Instagram or YouTube, which offer similar features. Popular TikTok creators are likely to be found on these platforms as well.
The ban relies heavily on the control that Apple and Google maintain over their smartphone platforms. If antitrust regulations and aggressive regulation against tech firms become more prevalent, such a mechanism might become less effective in preventing access to banned apps.
