Q&A: What does the future hold for TikTok?
The app’s future in the US is uncertain – what could that mean for users around the world.
The future of TikTok in the United States remains uncertain as a ban on the app looms, but the incoming Donald Trump administration has hinted at keeping it online.
The uncertainty has already sparked some users in the US to look elsewhere for their social media output, and users in other countries have raised concerns about what any US ban could mean for the app globally.
Here is a closer look at what could happen to TikTok, why it is happening and what it might mean for users around the world.
– Why is TikTok facing a ban in the US?
Last April, US President Joe Biden signed a law which gave TikTok until this month to separate its US business from parent firm ByteDance, a China-based company whose control of TikTok is seen as a national security threat by the US government.
The US Justice Department has said the government has two main concerns around TikTok and ByteDance: that TikTok collects large amounts of data and this could all into the hands of the Chinese government; and that the algorithm that powers TikTok recommendations could be manipulated by Beijing.
To combat this, the US has therefore ruled that TikTok must split from ByteDance in order to stay online in the United States.
The deadline for this split is Sunday January 19 – a day before Joe Biden leaves office and is replaced by Donald Trump – itself a key moment as the two men have conflicting views on the issue.
In response to the American concerns, TikTok has repeatedly said it does not and would not share data with the Chinese government, and warned that a break-up would effectively cut off the US version of TikTok from the rest of the world, making it a “shell of its former self”.
– So will TikTok go offline in the US on Sunday when the ban kicks in?
It still remains unclear. On Thursday, an official in the outgoing Biden administration said the president would not enforce the ban before he leaves office on Monday January 20.
That would mean the decision would fall to incoming President Trump who, despite having said in his first term he supported a ban, is now saying he wants to find a solution to keep the app online.
However, the Trump team has not said how they plan to do this – whether it be by brokering a sale or by finding a different workaround.
The social media giant also mounted a last-ditch legal bid to have the ban declared unconstitutional because it violates free speech protections, but on Friday, the US Supreme Court rejected TikTok’s appeal and unanimously upheld the law banning the app.
The most likely scenario at the moment is TikTok stays online for the time being while work on some sort of deal continues in the background, but its fate in the United States remains up in the air.
Experts have said the app will not disappear from existing users’ phones once the law takes effect on January 19, but new users will not be able to download it and updates will not be available.
– But could a sale of TikTok in the US still happen?
Yes. Despite previously insisting it was not interested in selling TikTok’s US business, there have been reports this week of apparent discussions among Chinese officials about a possible sale, including to X owner Elon Musk, who also happens to be a close ally of incoming Mr Trump.
TikTok, however, described these reports as “pure fiction”.
Other American entrepreneurs have also expressed an interest in buying TikTok’s US business in order to ensure it abides by the new law and stays online.
But if, or when, any such deal could be done remains unclear.
– If TikTok were to go offline in the US, what could it mean for users in other countries?
While the impact would naturally be felt strongest by users in the US, the disappearance of TikTok from one of its biggest markets would undoubtedly hit the platform in some way as it would fundamentally change how it looks.
Users would see less original content coming from users in the US, and the site would no doubt be hit economically if an entire market the size of the US was no longer consuming on the app, but crucially also no longer buying from the TikTok Shop – which lets users purchase products directly from videos.
In the long run, any economic downturn could impact how the app runs.
And as the millions of US homeless TikTok users find alternative platforms to migrate to, this could increase the competition the app faces in the social media market.
Another Chinese-owned app, known as RedNote in English, has already seen a spike in new US users in anticipation of a ban, while Meta-owned Instagram’s Reels, Google-owned YouTube’s Shorts and streaming platform Twitch have been among those named as possible TikTok alternatives.
