WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT THE STATUS OF THE TIKTOK BAN
By AMR Digital Marketing | January 16, 2025
When will the TikTok ban go into effect?
Sunday 19th is the deadline for ByteDance, TikTok's Beijing-based parent company, to sell its U.S. assets or allow the app to face a nationwide ban. That is, unless the Supreme Court somehow moves last-minute to block it.
Is the TikTok ban really going to happen?
As of right now, yes. The Supreme Court has heard oral arguments about it this week, but it’s unclear whether they will make any further rulings on it.
Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass, on Monday, said he planned to introduce legislation to delay by an additional 270 days. Trump has also urged the Supreme Court to delay the deadline to give his administration time after taking office on Jan. 20 to pursue a political resolution.
What would happen to the TikTok app on smartphones?
Under the law, a TikTok ban would essentially make new downloads on app stores like Apple and Google no longer be possible. While existing users could still access and use the app, they would be unable to update it, which would likely degrade and stop working over time.
However, TikTok is preparing to potentially make the app unavailable to its 170 million American users on Sunday, the same day the U.S. ban is set to go into effect.
Noel Francisco, an attorney for TikTok, told the Supreme Court on Friday that to his understanding, the app would “go dark” on Jan. 19 if the company lost the case. “Essentially, the platform shuts down,” Francisco said. That is what happened in India when TikTok was banned there on June 29, 2020.
“By morning, we found that TikTok wasn’t accessible,” said Nikhil Pahwa, who founded the tech policy publication MediaNama in India. “So the effect was immediate. It was just — one evening access was just cut off. Users had nowhere to go. Brands that were advertising on TikTok had nowhere to go.”
Under TikTok's plan, people attempting to open the app will see a pop-up message directing them to a website with information about the ban, Reuters reported, citing sources who requested anonymity as the matter is not public. The company also plans to give users an option to download all their data so that they can take a record of their personal information, they said.
What should we do to prepare for the shutdown of TikTok?
Download all your data and save a record of your personal and analytics insights.
Start downloading all of your videos if they aren’t already saved somewhere else! Don’t forget your drafts, too.
Create a series of videos or posts telling your audience where else they can find you.
Don’t panic. Regardless of what happens to TikTok, short-format video is not going anywhere. The millions of TikTok users aren't about to stop consuming content. It's just a question of where that attention will be redirected to!
If you’re on TikTok Shop: Make sure to add/connect with any of your TikTok Shop affiliates on Instagram or via email and cash out your creator fund.
Where should we go next if TikTok shuts down?
The two primary sources we expect will gain traction will be Instagram and YouTube, as these are the two most similar forms of short-form content. A change like this will come MAJOR opportunity for growth on these other platforms. You should be increasing posting on Instagram and YouTube in anticipation of a flood of new users. Also, don't do anything rash with TikTok, keep posting for as long as you can (just in case!).
A new app has already surfaced with China’s RedNote, or Xiaohongshu, and this could be a great opportunity to start fresh alongside everyone else and push you to diversify!