TikTok: Looming US ban alarms digital rights advocates
January 16, 2025
The clock is ticking for TikTok. The popular video app faces a ban in the US unless its parent company, ByteDance, sells its domestic operations to an American buyer by January 19, 2025.
The deadline comes after months of mounting pressure from lawmakers, who argue that ByteDance's Chinese ownership poses a national security risk, with the Chinese government potentially accessing user data or influencing content on the platform. ByteDance has denied the allegations.
As President-elect Donald Trump reportedly weighs a plan to delay the ban, US creators are scrambling to find alternatives to replace the platform.
At the same time, digital rights advocates warn that singling out one platform with a ban will do little to protect users — and could ultimately backfire.
"It's like playing a dangerous game of whack-a-mole that ends up putting users at even greater risk online," said Natalie Campbell, senior director for North American government and regulatory affairs at the nonprofit Internet Society.
While concerns about TikTok's security and privacy are legitimate, an outright ban would drive some users to unsafe workarounds and leave them more vulnerable than before, she told DW.
"People who rely on TikTok for their livelihood, for their income, will try to find workarounds to continue using the platform," she said.
Cyber vulnerabilities
If the ban goes into effect, new US users will no longer be able to download TikTok from Apple or Google app stores. It remains unclear whether people already using the app will be able to continue, and whether they would need to use a virtual private network, or VPN, to hide their IP addresses.
What seems certain, however, is that they would lose access to security updates and new features, which will gradually degrade the app's functionality and make users more vulnerable to cyberattacks.
"There are people in this world who are constantly looking to identify and exploit these vulnerabilities," Campbell said. "And it will be done."
Blurry political battle lines
There are many dimensions to the US political landscape surrounding the ban, and it remains fluid.
In April 2024, US lawmakers passed the ban with bipartisan support. TikTok appealed, arguing that the ban violated First Amendment rights, and the case went to the Supreme Court. During a hearing earlier this month, the justices appeared skeptical of TikTok's arguments that the law was unconstitutional. Their decision on whether or not to uphold it could now come at any moment.
Trump, who supported a ban on TikTok during his first term, has recently reversed his position. He is now reportedly weighing a plan to delay the ban through an executive order, though it remains unclear whether that would be legally possible.
Meanwhile, his inauguration will take place the day after the ban could go into effect. The New York Times reported that TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew has been invited to the event and is expected to be seated in a place of honor traditionally reserved for important guests such as former presidents.
Meanwhile, several American companies and investor groups have expressed interest in acquiring the platform.
According to Bloomberg News, one option is to sell parts of TikTok to Elon Musk's social media company X. The acquisition would potentially give the multi-billionaire control over an even larger platform than X, and expand his ability to promote both his personal interests and those of the incoming Trump administration.
Global implications
If no acquisition occurs and TikTok is banned, it would reflect a broader global trend of government restrictions on the platform.
India implemented a ban in 2020, citing national security concerns. Since then, countries including Jordan, Kyrgyzstan and Nepal have followed suit, citing reasons ranging from concerns about users' mental health to accusations that the platform promotes social unrest. Most recently, Albania announced a one-year block on the platform in late December.
A US ban could further fuel this trend, says Internet Society's Natalie Campbell, potentially leading to an increasingly fractured Internet — with repercussions far beyond US borders.
"Because of the influence that the United States has, we would likely see more and more countries trying to address their concerns (about social media platforms) through bans," she said.
Banning platforms vs. regulating them
Campbell argued that banning an app does not address the underlying problem, but rather causes users to migrate to other services where privacy and security concerns remain.
As a contingency plan, many US TikTok users have recently expanded their presence on competing US platforms such as Instagram or YouTube, or other Chinese applications such as the lifestyle app RedNote.
Campbell argues that instead of targeting a single platform with a ban, the US government should focus on passing comprehensive privacy legislation that would protect users across all platforms: "This would allow us to hold all services and apps to the same standards, rather than playing this dangerous game of whack-a-mole."
Edited by Ben Knight
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