What we can expect from a looming TikTok ban in the US

TikTok users in the US are bracing for the looming ban on the Chinese-owned app.

These self-proclaimed “TikTok refugees” have started flocking to another Chinese social media platform known as REDnote.

Despite the US Supreme Court upholding a law banning the app on national security grounds, President-elect Donald Trump has said he will decide TikTok’s future in the US.

Here’s what we know about the possible ban and what to expect.

Why could the US ban TikTok?

Politicians in the United States have emphasized national security concerns surrounding TikTok and its 170 million American users.

The main argument is that China could use TikTok to obtain data on millions of Americans on the app and use the information for harassment, recruitment and espionage.

Last year, the US Congress passed a law requiring TikTok’s China-based parent company ByteDance to sell the social media platform.

Legislation introduced by President Joe Biden stipulated that unless TikTok’s China-based owner ByteDance sold the US version of the app, it would be banned in America.

While it was appealed by the parent company, the Supreme Court upheld the law on Friday local time, which could take effect on Sunday.

The Supreme Court said that TikTok’s “scale and susceptibility to foreign opposition control, together with the vast amounts of sensitive data that the platform collects” justify the “discrimination to address the government’s national security concerns”.

Could Donald Trump stop the TikTok ban?

But now that Trump will take office on Monday, Mr. Biden said he would leave enforcement of the ban to the new leader.

Trump wrote on Truth Social that “in the not too distant future” he will decide the fate of the app.

“The Supreme Court’s decision was expected and everyone must respect it. My decision on TikTok will be made in the not-too-distant future, but I need time to review the situation,” he said, adding: “Stay tuned!”

Will TikTok actually be banned in the US?

The simple answer is that we don’t really know how the ban would actually work and what Trump will do.

A lawyer representing TikTok told Supreme Court judges last week that the app “will go dark” on January 19 if the law is not struck down.

How that will actually look in practice is unclear, but the law will stop app stores from offering TikTok from Sunday.

Internet hosting services will also be prohibited from hosting TikTok.

While new users will not be able to download the app, users who already have it downloaded on their phone should continue to have access to TikTok.

But TikTok’s disappearance from app stores means it won’t be able to push updates and fix bugs on the app — ultimately rendering it useless.

Who owns TikTok?

TikTok is owned by the Chinese company ByteDance, based in Beijing.

Its headquarters are in the city’s northwestern Haidian district, but it also has dual headquarters in Singapore and Los Angeles.

ByteDance was founded in China by entrepreneur Zhang Yimin in 2012, who was declared China’s richest person last October.

ByteDance launched a popular video-sharing app called Douyin, which inspired the spin-off version for foreign audiences called TikTok.

What does this mean for Australian users?

If Americans can no longer use TikTok, Australians will not get new uploads from certain creators, and Australian influencers, artists and brands would lose their American audience.

When the ban was first mooted in early 2024, the Coalition urged Australia to do the same, citing Chinese interference.

No serious stance has been taken on it by the Albanian government, but it has been banned from officials’ phones since 2020.

Why do people download REDnote?

REDnote, or Xiaohongshu, is essentially a backup for US users anticipating the TikTok ban.

It is owned by Shanghai-based Xingyin Information Technology.

US users have encouraged people to download REDnote as a form of protest against the decision to ban TikTok.

What’s next?

Trump’s team has promised to keep the app alive in the US if a viable deal is on the table.

With ByteDance vowing not to sell the US version of the app to a neutral party, all eyes are on the president-elect and what he will do next.