TikTok ban: What US app users need to know

New York
CNN
—

The clock is ticking down on TikTok in America.

ONE Laws requiring TikTok to find a new non-Chinese owner or face a ban are scheduled to take effect on Sunday — and there’s little to suggest the company is prepared to complete a sale before then.

That means 170 million Americans could lose access to a platform they use to find entertainment, news and community, or even run a business, after TikTok became the first new platform in years to pose a real competitive threat to American skilled social media such as Instagram and YouTube.

The Supreme Court upheld the law on Friday, bringing the ban one step closer.

But even though the ban deadline is now only two days away, there are still many unknowns about what exactly will happen.

Will TikTok shut down completely in the US? It wasn’t what users or experts expected, but a report indicated that it might do just that.

Will the outgoing President Joe Biden administration provide direction? That doesn’t sound likely.

Will President-elect Trump intervene? If the list of expected attendees at his inauguration is any indication, it’s likely he’ll try.

Here’s what we know—and what we don’t know—about the day of the ban.

Experts had expected the app to be removed on Sunday from the app stores of Apple and Google – which could face fines under the law for continuing to host TikTok after the deadline. That would mean anyone without the app already running their phones couldn’t download it, but existing users could continue to access it without security updates until it eventually becomes buggy or stops working.

But a Biden administration official told CNN on Thursday that the outgoing president plans to leave it up to Trump to enforce the ban. “Our position on this has been clear: TikTok must continue to operate under American ownership. Given the timing of it taking effect during a holiday weekend a day before the inauguration, it will be up to the next administration to implement , the official said.

That could mean that, given Trump takes office the day after the ban takes effect, there would be no one to explicitly instruct app stores to remove the platform on Sunday, potentially leaving them to decide for themselves whether to comply.

But even if the app stores left TikTok alone, the company may decide to pull the plug on itself. The information reported Wednesday that TikTok was preparing to shut down completely on Sunday and instead direct users to an information page about the ban.

So users should mentally and emotionally prepare to potentially lose access to the app starting Sunday, unless they want to download a VPN to bypass the ban.

The central claim against TikTok is that the company poses a potential national security risk. US officials have worried that the Chinese government could pressure TikTok or its parent company, ByteDance, to hand over personal information about its US users, which could then be used for Chinese intelligence operations or the spread of Chinese-backed disinformation.

There is no evidence yet that this actually happened. Still, policymakers and security experts have said China’s national security laws make it an opportunity — identifying a core risk that fits into a broader anti-China narrative tied to issues including trade, human rights and authoritarianism.

These concerns were renewed after a report in 2022 suggested US user data had repeatedly been accessed by China-based employees. TikTok has disputed the report. In recent years, the company says it has made changes to how it handles US user data, including storing it in US-based servers owned by Silicon Valley technology company Oracle.

President Joe Biden signed a bill in April that required the platform to be sold to a new, non-Chinese owner or be banned in the United States.

The bill to ban TikTok was widely supported across both sides of the aisle, and the US House of Representatives approved it by a bipartisan vote of 360-58. House Republican leadership tied the TikTok bill to funding for Ukrainian military equipment and Israeli missile defense, putting pressure on Senate lawmakers to consider the entire package in a single up-or-down vote.

The bill was then fast-tracked through the Senate, passing less than a week later. The Biden administration ordered all senior staff to remove TikTok from their phones within 30 days by February 2023.

Although the idea of ​​a TikTok ban was born during Trump’s first presidency, he has since made a 180-degree turn and said he wants to save the app.

The complicating factor: The ban is set to take effect one day before Trump takes office.

Trump had asked the Supreme Court to temporarily halt implementation of the ban to give him time as president to negotiate a sale of TikTok. And sources familiar with his plans told CNN on Wednesday that he was considering whether to delay the ban and preserve Americans’ access to the platform while he works on a deal.

TikTok CEO Shou Chew will sit on stage with other leading tech CEOs at Trump’s inauguration — perhaps a sign of how serious the incoming president is about trying to save the app.

And with some in Congress now suggesting that TikTok may need more time to find a buyer, Trump could find support in trying to push the ban to a later date. The law allows the president to extend the ban by 90 days, but triggering the extension requires proof that parties working on procurement have made significant progress, including binding legal agreements for such an agreement — and TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, has not publicly updated its stance that the app is not for sale.

Even if the TikTok ban goes into effect, a sale of the app to a non-Chinese owner could restore access for US users.

A group formed by billionaire entrepreneur and former Los Angeles Dodgers owner Frank McCourt and including “Shark Tank” fame investor Kevin O’Leary made a formal bid to buy TikTok from China-based ByteDance earlier this month. The group wants to buy TikTok’s US assets, albeit without the app’s beloved algorithm – which China has indicated it will not allow to be sold – and rebuilding the platform with what it says would be a more transparent feed and more users control over their data.

Chinese officials have also reportedly discussed the possibility of selling TikTok to X owner Elon Musk, who they may consider the friendliest American owner. Musk and ByteDance have not commented on the reports; TikTok called them “pure fiction.”

McCourt told CNN on Thursday that while ByteDance’s bankers have confirmed receipt of his group’s offer, he expected the company to “wait to hear what the Supreme Court does” before seriously engaging in any acquisition talks. “But they haven’t told us to fly a kite,” he said, adding that after the court’s decision, “I hope we can have a solid conversation.”

But here’s the thing: Even if TikTok is sold and Americans can keep using it, it will be a different app in many ways. Because China is almost certain to block the sale of the algorithm along with TikTok’s US assets, the app’s “For You” feed will have to be rebuilt by the new owner — which will be no easy task. Many tech giants have already spent years trying to replicate TikTok’s algorithm without quite succeeding.

Developing a US version of TikTok could also mean that the rest of the world would have to download a new app to access US users’ content.

The bottom line is, until Sunday — and likely at least next week — there may be more questions than answers for TikTok users about the app’s future.

TikTok’s US assets, without the algorithm, are estimated to be worth between $40 billion and $50 billion, according to Wedbush Securities analyst Dan Ives.

But since the algorithm may be where much of TikTok’s value lies, it’s hard to put a firm dollar figure on the company.

McCourt’s group is not saying publicly how much it offered, although the billionaire previously stated he valued the assets at about $20 billion.

“We will refrain from publicly sharing the financial details of our offer until ByteDance is able to review our proposal,” the group said in a statement.

CNN’s Brian Fung and Jack Forrest contributed to this report.