TikTok’s Future in Doubt after Court Upholds U.S. Ban

What Happened?

A three-judge panel on the Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia upheld a federal law to ban TikTok in the United States.

Unless the parent company of TikTok, Beijing based ByteDance, sells to or finds a non-Chinese owner by January 19^th, 2025, the popular video app could be banned in the U.S.

Federal law requires TikTok to be sold to a non-Chinese company on national security grounds. The specific charge is that the app was gathering user data on behalf of the Chinese government, for surveillance purposes and spreading disinformation.

The legislation, known as the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act, became law in April 2024. ByteDance plans to appeal the decision to the U.S. Supreme Court, which could overturn the lower court’s ruling.

But for now, the ruling is a blow to the company’s future in the United States… 

Why it Matters

TikTok is a popular video platform in the US.

One-third of American adults, and nearly two-thirds of American teenagers use TikTok. Half of those aged between 13 and 17 use the app each day. That’s a total of 170 million Americans.

TikTok became popular because the platform allows users to easily create, view, and share video content with a worldwide audience.

TikTok’s total global audience is 1.6 billion people. Many marketers devote half their budgets to placing ads on the popular platform.

TikTok works by allowing users to upload content to the app, which then displays that content to other users. The platform uses machine learning to understand each users’ preferences, then based on how they interact with content show them more content they will like.

The process happens quickly, which for users translates into an experience unlike other social media and video platforms. That’s because TikTok provides users with a personalized feel.

The downside: While TikTok usage may not meet the clinical definition of addiction, the practical effect for many users approaches that level.

How it Affects You

If TikTok is banned in the U.S., and you’re one of the regular users, here’s what you can expect to happen.

The app wouldn’t disappear from smartphones, tablets, or other devices. Instead, the platform would stop receiving crucial updates after the ban went into effect, which in turn would cause user experiences to quickly become degraded, meaning videos would stop working properly until content could not be viewed at all.

At first videos might just seem glitchy or blurry, but eventually they would become inaccessible to users. If the TikTok ban is enforced, there could be significant disruptions for social media users in the United States.

In such a scenario the big winners would be TikTok competitors such as YouTube (owned by Alphabet Inc.) and Meta (owner of Facebook), since they would stand to gain both users and advertisers who previously relied on TikTok.

How the incoming Trump Administration would handle the situation is uncertain, since Mr. Trump has previously stated he would not support a ban of TikTok.