What happens if TikTok is banned on my phone?

TikTok is facing The United States may ban That would come later this month if a law that could require the social media app's Chinese owner ByteDance to part ways with the platform takes effect on Jan. 19 as scheduled.

Specifically, the Protecting Americans from Applications Controlled by Foreign Adversaries Act would make it illegal App stores for Google or Apple and web hosting services to distribute or serve TikTok. The president can also delay passage of the law for 90 days if ByteDance has initiated the process of selling TikTok.

On January 11, the Supreme Court heard arguments from government lawyers and lawyers for the social media platform, who said TikTok posed a threat to U.S. national security. Experts said the judge appeared to accept the government's case, raising the possibility of an injunction. What this means for U.S. TikTok users

Can I use TikTok after the ban?

If the law takes effect on January 19, US users who have not yet downloaded the TikTok app will no longer be able to access the app. It will no longer be available for download in app stores, including those of Apple and Google.

For TikTok users who already have the short video app installed on their devices, it remains to be seen what will happen to the app. In one case, it will dim and the user will receive a notification that it is inoperable or unavailable.

“They'll get a notification that says, 'This service is not available in your country. Based on what we've seen in other countries that have banned certain platforms, this is likely to happen,” said Timothy E. Timothy Edgar, professor of cybersecurity at Brown University, told CBS Financial Watch. “If the law takes effect, this generation may be in for a rude awakening, finding that the major social media platforms they rely on as creators or just users are suddenly unavailable.”

Edgar added that while such an action would be unprecedented in the United States, it is the experience of users of banned apps in other countries and he believes it is most likely to happen in the United States.

Other cybersecurity experts say TikTok may not become inaccessible overnight, but the user experience in the United States will degrade over time.

“If you already have TikTok installed on your phone, you can still use it, but over time you won't receive any updates, so the app will Becoming obsolete.” CBS Business Watch. “As TikTok may introduce new features or security patches, various issues may arise, and the app will perform poorly in the United States and security issues may arise. So eventually TikTok users may stop using the vulnerable version ”

Can I access TikTok through a VPN?

Edgar pointed out that the new law does not target users, meaning that even if the ban takes effect, it will not be illegal for people to install TikTok on their phones or try to access the platform.

In fact, US users may be able to get around the ban by using a virtual private network to access TikTok. VPNs provide privacy and can fool Internet service providers into thinking that computers located in the United States are located abroad.

Eva Galperin, director of cybersecurity at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a nonprofit focused on digital rights, told CBS MoneyWatch that U.S. TikTok users may be able to circumvent the ban through VPNs, although this approach does carry risks.

“Presumably, it would work just fine,” she said, warning that “many free VPNs make money by selling user data.”

Galperin added that some free VPN service providers are known to install malware on user devices. “So I advise people to be very careful about the VPN they choose,” she said.

At the same time, Edgar warns that more complex VPNs require time, money, and effort to set up.

“This is not something Americans are used to doing because we haven't experienced government filtering of the internet,” he said.

What are the alternatives to TikTok?

Users looking for TikTok alternatives do have other options, such as YouTube Shorts and Instagram Reels.

“Short-form video content is something people want and they will continue to find ways to get it,” Edgar said.

Another alternative is Lemon8, a ByteDance-owned social media app that launched in 2020, although experts note it could be subject to the same laws that threatened to ban TikTok in the U.S.