On January 19, the US government’s ultimatum expires: by then the Chinese company Bytedance must have sold its US branch TikTok – otherwise the app will be banned from US app stores.

The reason? The US government believes that Bytedance could offer the Chinese Communist Party access to sensitive data of American users, as well as that Beijing could use the platform’s algorithm to promote its propaganda and misleading information to users. Of course, the company rejects all the relevant accusations.

THE Donald Trump has for its part spoken out against the ban and called on the Supreme Court to overturn the US law. It remains to be seen whether Trump will succeed in doing so – after all, there were many Republicans who voted in favor of the law.

Meanwhile, other states have blocked the app, including India, Iran and Afghanistan. The USA however, it would be the first western state to take this measure.

So what would such a ban mean for the app’s 170 million US users?

What could happen from January 19?

Should the ban actually come into effect, the effects would primarily concern potential new users. Because Apple and Google will be forced to download the application from their stores and no one would be able to download it anymore. However, those who have already downloaded TikTok may be able to continue using the app – but they will no longer be able to download software or security updates for the app and therefore after a while will not be able to ‘run’ the app.

However, as Eva Galperin, head of the cybersecurity department at the American NGO Electronic Frontier Foundation, explains to CNN, using the application without the necessary updates may create security gaps, “which hackers could exploit.”

What will happen to user data?

It is also unclear what will happen to user data. According to Forbes, these will likely be promoted in China, as was the case with Indian user data after India banned TikTok in 2020.

The New York Times therefore suggests that users be careful and not allow TikTok to access their location and contacts.

Many users, especially content creators active on the platform, want to save the videos they have uploaded before they disappear – keeping them either on their mobile or desktop, through the “save video” option or saving them to their hard drive respectively.

Bypass ban via VPN?

Several users are hoping to be able to continue using TikTok in the US by connecting to VPN-servers. VPN connections are encrypted channels that allow secure connection to other computers or networks – and in this way the user can bypass any blocked platforms or pages. In fact, the VPN connection is quite easy, while there are also many anti-virus and firewall services that offer the possibility of VPN connection.

So a computer or a mobile phone can also connect to VPN servers from abroad – in this case, that is, from a country where TikTok is available. This is a fairly common practice in countries such as Turkey and Iran.

What are the alternative platforms?

One of the alternative TikTok platforms is Lemon8. An application that has been around since 2020 and is gaining more and more users. Like TikTok, on Lemon8 users can also upload photos or videos, like other users’ posts, share and comment on other users’ posts.

For TikTok users, this application is quite a convenient alternative, since they can connect with the same log-in details. But here’s where the problem lies: Lemon8 is also owned by Bytedance – and could just as well be targeted by the US government at some point in the future.

Other alternative suggestions for users are Instagram Reels, Snapchat Spotlight or YouTube Shorts, which are quite similar to TikTok’s video-feed and which belong to Meta, Snap and Alphabet.

What effect would the ban have on non-US users?

It is difficult to answer this question with certainty. Along with the tens of millions of users from the US, the platform will also lose a huge part of its revenue – and as a result it will become more difficult to further develop the app. With the loss of trends and content in general from the US, it is likely that the content of the application as a whole will change significantly.

TikTok is also targeted by the EU, albeit for different reasons. The Union is more concerned about the protection of young users, transparency around the ads displayed on the platform and, especially after the recent elections in Romania, the manipulation of electoral processes. And Albania has blocked the app for a year, because the government believes that TikTok is responsible for the increasing phenomena of violence among teenagers.

In any case, a ban in the US will likely lead many countries to control TikTok more and set even stricter regulatory frameworks regarding the operation of the app.

What are TikTok users hoping for?

However, even if the US ban goes into effect, it probably won’t last long, as Bytedance will still be able to sell the platform to a non-Chinese company – and then US users will be able to access the app again.

Among the possible buyers is an investment group led by American billionaire Frank McCourt, which announced that it has submitted an official proposal to Bytedance for the American branch of TikTok – the Chinese company has of course explained that it is not going to sell the application.

Edited by: Giorgos Passas