TikTok Plans to Shut Down in the US if Ban Goes Through

TikTok plans to turn off its app for US users if a proposed ban goes into effect on Sunday. That could change if the Supreme Court decides to block or postpone the move.

Users who attempt to open the app on 19 January will receive a message that directs them to a website that provides information about the ban. TikTok aims to give users the ability to download all their data to create records of their personal information.

In April 2024, US President Joe Biden signed legislation that required China-based ByteDance to sell off its US TikTok assets due to it being a national security risk. In December 2024, an appeals court upheld the potential ban. Under the proposed ban, the TikTok app would no longer be available for downloading on Google and Apple app stores. Current users can still access the service, but will no longer be able to download updates, which will likely lead to the app degrading over time.

TikTok lawyers and content creators maintain the impending ban violates the 170 million users’ free speech rights. The US Supreme Court seemed to favor upholding the ban in a hearing on 10 January, but the nine judges have yet to issue a preliminary decision. President-elect Donald Trump asked the Supreme Court to hold off on the hearing until he is sworn into office on 20 January.

Many US TikTok users are migrating to the Chinese social media app Xiaohongshu. Xiaohongshu, which in English means “Little Red Book” and is known as RedNote, combines e-commerce and short-form videos. It’s currently the top-ranked free social media app on Apple’s US app store. ByteDance-owned Lemon8 allows users to post pictures and short-form videos but the same ban that covers TikTok could also apply even though it is not named in the statute.

Meta Platforms launched the short video platform Reels on Facebook and Instagram in 2020. According to data from Meta Platforms reported by Datareportal, the number of users that can be reached with ads on Instagram Reels is around 726.8 million. YouTube, Snapchat, Twitch, and Clapper are listed as social media apps that could benefit from the TikTok ban, according to the Associated Press.