Wait, will TikTok really become illegal in the US? The ban explained

So, on Friday 10th January, the Supreme Court in the US is going to hear arguments about whether TikTok should be banned in the US. If ByteDance (the company which runs TikTok) doesn’t persuade the Supreme Court otherwise, or sell TikTok, then the app will be banned in the US next week. Here’s an easy-to-read explanation of everything you need to know about the TikTok ban, and how it could affect you.

Why does the US government even want to ban TikTok?

The government knows there are funny cat videos on there, right? Basically, people in the US government are claiming TikTok is a national security risk and China is using the app to spy on people. TikTok is arguing that banning the app is violating the first amendment at people’s right to freedom of speech.

TikTok is owned by ByteDance, which is a Chinese tech company. But the app’s headquarters are in Los Angeles and in Singapore. TikTok also has offices in Berlin, Dubai, Dublin, Jarkarta, London, Paris, New York, Seoul and Tokyo. TikTok says the user data from the US is dealt with by the American company Oracle.

TikTok confirms it will shut down in the United States on January 19th unless the Supreme Court strikes down or postpones law requiring it to be sold. pic.twitter.com/gcZGhMiwRZ

— Pop Base (@PopBase) January 9, 2025

The US government haven’t actually made public any evidence yet that ByteDance or the Chinese government have been using TikTok to exploit people’s personal data or spread propaganda. But a lot of American politicians seem to be very convinced that this is happening. The Republican senator from Missouri called TikTok “an espionage platform for the Chinese Communist party”. ByteDance and TikTok keep denying this.

Back in 2022, Joe Biden banned most federal government phones and laptops from having TikTok on. The state of Montana attempted to ban TikTok, but a judge decided the law was violating freedom of speech.

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What’s actually happening with TikTok at the Supreme Court right now, then?

Okay, bear with me. Here’s a timeline of the legal backstory.

So, in April 2024, Joe Biden passed a law with a very long name – the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act. This law basically bans TikTok. At the moment, this law will come into effect on 19th January. Unless ByteDance suddenly sells TikTok to a different company, so it stops being a “foreign adversary controlled application”. But ByteDance reportedly isn’t planning to do that.

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Pretty much straightaway, ByteDance sued the US government. The company claims this law is unfairly singling out TikTok, and is limiting the freedom of speech for the 170 million people who use the app in the US.

Last month, the US court of appeals in the District of Columbia assessed the case. The judges rules in favour of the government. They said national security was more important than people watching TikToks. The Supreme Court is reviewing that cast on Friday 10th January. So, TikTok has a few hours today to convince the Supreme Court to stop the app from being banned next week.

Donald Trump first suggested banning TikTok, but is now trying to keep it

Yes, Donald Trump used to be extremely passionate about banning TikTok. No, he doesn’t want this to happen anymore. Donald Trump literally has a TikTok account. He changed his mind about the app, said he has “a warm spot in (his) heart for TikTok” and promised people that if they voted for him, he’d save TikTok.

How will the TikTok ban affect people in the UK?

Fear not. The UK already doesn’t allow government devices to have TikTok on. (Canada, New Zealand and quite a lot of European countries have also done this, by the way.) But there don’t seem to be any plans for the UK to stop the rest of us from using TikTok.

In theory, US content creators won’t be able to make TikTok videos anymore. In reality, many people might just use a VPN and carry on scrolling. TikTok has been banned in India since 2020, and a lot of people there just use a VPN to access it. We have no idea how vigilant the US government will actually be about stopping people from using TikTok.

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