TikToker Hannah Hiatt Under Investigation After Video of Her Son Goes Viral

It's been 9 months since President Joe Biden signed authorities ordering TikTok's Chinese genitor institution ByteDance to merchantability the fashionable level oregon other face a prohibition successful the United States.

The deadline is present days distant and the U.S. Supreme Court, proceeding oral arguments for and against the prohibition connected Jan. 10, sounded inclined to uphold the law. 

So, thumbs, scroll your last?

Not exactly. Though the connection ban signifies that thing is verboten, afloat stop, it's not arsenic if TikTok's 170 cardinal American users volition spell to their phones astatine midnight connected Jan. 19, erstwhile the instrumentality is scheduled to spell into effect, and the app won't beryllium determination anymore.

They'll adjacent beryllium capable to endlessly scroll arsenic usual, for now.

But of people not everything is going to beryllium the same, due to the fact that Congress meant concern erstwhile it passed a bipartisan bill, those successful favour of the prohibition alleging that TikTok nether its existent ownership poses a menace to nationalist security.

When does the TikTok prohibition spell into effect?

Barring involution from the U.S. Supreme Court, the instrumentality Biden signed April 24, 2024—the Protecting Americans From Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act—is owed to spell into effect connected Sunday, Jan. 19.

The measure gave TikTok's genitor institution ByteDance 9 months to find a U.S.-approved purchaser for the app, oregon other the level would beryllium banned successful the United States.

Biden besides had the power, which helium didn't exercise, to inquire for a 90-day hold of the deadline should it look arsenic if a woody was imminent. Instead, President-elect Donald Trump filed an amicus little asking the U.S. Supreme Court to postpone the deadline until aft his Jan. 20 inauguration truthful that his medication could prosecute a "political resolution."

Testifying earlier Congress successful March 2023, TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew said the institution wanted to enactment with the U.S. to assuage information concerns.

"I deliberation a batch of risks that are pointed retired are hypothetical and theoretical risks," helium said. "Still, we person heard important concerns astir the imaginable for unwanted overseas entree to U.S. information and imaginable manipulation of the TikTok U.S. ecosystem. Our attack has ne'er been to disregard oregon trivialize immoderate of these concerns. We person addressed them with existent action."

Moreover, Chew said, regarding users' idiosyncratic information, "We are committed to beryllium precise transparent with our users astir what we collect. I don't judge what we cod is much than astir players successful the industry."

Chew was an honorary seat of the 2024 Met Gala past May, Vogue editor successful main Anna Wintour recognizing the unit TikTok has go successful the manner world, but the app's critics continued to beryllium unimpressed.

Hearing arguments Jan. 10, Supreme Court justices sounded skeptical of the escaped code usurpation space and much inclined to judge Congress' rationale that the Chinese authorities has excessively overmuch imaginable entree to Americans' idiosyncratic information done TikTok and that users were subjectable to overseas power done the platform's algorithm.

The instrumentality is "not saying TikTok has to stop," Chief Justice John Roberts said during the session. "They're saying China has to halt controlling TikTok."

Will it beryllium amerciable to usage TikTok?

In a word, no. 

"The instrumentality truly deliberately avoided saying that it was amerciable to person the app connected your phone," Georgia Institute of Technology prof Milton Mueller, who filed an amicus little to the Supreme Court opposing the ban, told Wired. "Their effort is to accidental cipher caller tin download it from the Apple oregon Google stores, and cipher who has it tin update it done those stores. There’s thing successful the instrumentality that says, 'TikTok, you indispensable artifact U.S. users.'"

In the meantime, TikTok users who are hoping this each blows implicit person been advised to not delete their accounts and to prevention immoderate unpublished contented from their drafts successful the app—both truthful that they don't suffer it successful lawsuit the app stops functioning decently and successful lawsuit the prohibition is abolished.

With the deadline accelerated approaching, however, app stores person seen an uptick successful downloads of Lemon8, which has been compared to Pinterest and has sharing and algorithmic functions akin to Instagram and TikTok. But since Lemon8 and TikTok stock an proprietor (you tin motion into the erstwhile utilizing your TikTok info), it could look the aforesaid fate, arsenic the 2024 instrumentality states that immoderate ByteDance subsidiary operating successful the U.S. could extremity up banned arsenic well.

Platforms similar REDNote and Neptune are besides angling for a portion of the scrolling pie. Otherwise, the biggest beneficiaries of a TikTok prohibition are existing behemoths specified arsenic Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram, Alphabet, which owns YouTube, and Snap Inc. (aka Snapchat).

While 1 of the arguments against the prohibition has been that it'll severely interaction the livelihoods of contented creators, galore TikTokers besides person presences connected others large platforms similar YouTube and Instagram Reels.

Still, mislaid income is mislaid income, and according to a 2024 survey by Influencer Marketing Hub, TikTok is the apical level that brands usage for influencer marketing. TikTok has said that creators would collectively lose $1.3 billion successful the archetypal period of a ban.

Rita Colon, a idiosyncratic shopper who told NBC News she makes astatine slightest $3,000 a period done TikTok, said the level had allowed her to beryllium an entrepreneur who worked for herself.

"It allowed maine the state of time," she said. And portion she's connected different apps, "Instagram volition fto you spell live, but lone for an hour."

Has anyone tried to bargain TikTok?

Former Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin, who served successful the archetypal Trump administration, gave a thumbs-up to the sell-or-be-banned measure past year. Calling TikTok "a large business," helium said connected CNBC successful March that helium was going to enactment unneurotic a radical of investors to bargain it.

"This should beryllium owned by U.S. businesses," Mnuchin said. "There’s nary mode that the Chinese would ever fto a U.S. institution ain thing similar this successful China."

Former Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick also expressed interest, according to the Wall Street Journal, and was looking for imaginable partners.

Incidentally, ByteDance besides said past outpouring that TikTok was not for sale.

But earlier this month, Shark Tank-famous capitalist Kevin O'Leary said helium was portion of a consortium spearheaded by erstwhile Dodgers proprietor Frank McCourt that was putting unneurotic a bid to bargain the level for an undisclosed amount.