The deadline for TikTok being potentially banned in the US is looming.

Last year, President Joe Biden warned that the popular video-sharing platform could be banned in the country amid concerns over ByteDance, the Chinese firm that owns TikTok.

Biden then signed a bill in April 2024 that gave ByteDance 270 days to sell the app or have it banned in the US.

There’s since been offers to buy TikTok but the Chinese-owned company is yet to budge.

The deadline for ByteDance to sell is January 19 – just a matter of days away.

As the date gets closer, many have been left with questions about what’s next for the app if a sale fails to go through.

With this in mind, tech experts have weighed in on the matter and shared their predictions for TikTok’s future.

TikTok could be banned in the US by the end of the month (CFOTO/Future Publishing via Getty Images)

What will happen to the TikTok app on your phone if it gets banned?

After January 19, if you’re in the US and haven’t got the app already on your phone it’s unlikely you’ll be able to download it as it’ll be pulled from stores like Google and Apple under the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act.

For those who have the app prior to the ban, it’s expected that it will eventually ‘go dark’.

Timothy Edgar, a professor of cybersecurity at Brown University, told CBS: “They will get a notice that says, ‘This service is not available in your country.’

“That’s most likely what will happen based on what we’ve seen in other countries that have banned certain platforms.

“This generation may be in for a very rude awakening if the law goes into effect and they find a major social media platform that they came to rely on as creators, or just users, is suddenly not available.”

It seems unlikely that ByteDance will sell up (Thomas Fuller/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)

Qi Liao, a professor of computer and network security at Central Michigan University, also weighed in and suggested that TikTok would eventually become ‘obsolete’ because, even if you can still access the app, you won’t be able to download any updates.

“Various issues could arise because TikTok may introduce new features or security patches, and the app in the US will have a sluggish performance as well as security issues. So eventually TikTok users will probably stop using the vulnerable version,” Liao added.

Will I be able to access TikTok through a VPN?

Some might be tempted to download a VPN (virtual private network) to still be able to access TikTok, but Eva Galperin, director of cybersecurity at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, has said doing this comes with its risks as ‘a lot of free VPNs make money by selling user data’.

“I would advise people to be very careful about the VPN they choose,” she added.

As the ban continues to loom, TikTok users have been rushing to a new app, RedNote; another short-form video app also from China.

Twitter users have noticed a stark similarity within three statements shared by TikTok.

Last year, President Joe Biden vowed to ban TikTok in the US alleging the app poses ‘a national-security threat of immense depth and scale’.

On January 17 earlier this year, the country’s Supreme Court upheld its ruling and the app ‘went dark’ yesterday (January 19).

TikTok’s statements

When TikTok ‘went dark,’ users were faced with the pop-up message: “Sorry, TikTok isn’t available right now. A law banning TikTok has been enacted in the US. Unfortunately, that means you can’t use TikTok for now.

“We are fortunate that President Trump has indicated that he will work with us on a solution to reinstate TikTok once he takes office. Please stay tuned!”

An official statement released by the app read: “STATEMENT FROM TIKTOK: In agreement with our service providers, TikTok is in the process of restoring service. We thank President Trump for providing the necessary clarity and assurance to our service providers that they will face no penalties providing TikTok to over 170 million Americans and allowing over seven million small businesses to thrive.

A law temporarily banned TikTok in the US ( Jaap Arriens/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

“It’s a strong stand for the First Amendment and against arbitrary censorship. We will work with President Trump on a long-term solution that keeps TikTok in the United States.”

And another pop-up message to TikTokers added: “Welcome back! Thank you for your patience and support. As a result of President Trump’s efforts, TikTok is back in the US!

“You can continue to create, share and discover all the things you love on TikTok.”

And it hasn’t taken long for people to weigh in.

The TikTok statements all share a detail which users say reveals the ban was ‘an obvious PR stunt’ (TikTok/ Twitter/ @amyewong)

Online response to TikTok’s statement

A Twitter user said: “TikTok shut down in the US, only for it to come back 14 hours later and blast three separate statements to its millions of followers, saying that it was all thanks to Donald Trump, who isn’t even president yet.”

“This was such an obvious PR stunt to try to garner favor with Trump. They never had to take TikTok offline, and if they were legally required to, then nothing Trump said to them could have allowed them to restore service,” another added.

A third resolved: “I’ve never seen a government do so much to make such a problematic person relevant and suck d**k this hard to make him look like the savior. This blatant a*s pr stunt. Someone or something will always praise you for nothing if you’re a yt male. We are in dark days.”

UNILAD has contacted TikTok for comment.

TikTok users are racing to download a new app, RedNote, ahead of the proposed US TikTok ban.

Time is ticking if one of our favorite social media platforms is to be saved, as the US plans on banning the video app as soon as Sunday (January 19) this week.

In April last year, the US Congress passed a bipartisan bill to prohibit TikTok unless it secures a new owner.

Federal officials argued the platform poses a ‘national security threat’ on an ‘immense depth’ due to its supposed links with China.

The RedNote app has shot to the top spot on the app store (Cheng Xin/Getty Images)

It is feared US users’ data could be being shared unlawfully with the Communist government.

However, TikTok and its parent company, ByteDance, refute the allegations and are in the midst of challenging the rule in the Supreme Court by highlighting its First Amendment Rights.

But justices threw out the argument on Friday and appeared to side more favorably with the US government.

Justice Elena Kagan said the law is only targeted at the foreign corporation, ‘which doesn’t have First Amendment rights’, while Chief Justice John Roberts added: “They’re not saying TikTok has to stop. They’re saying the Chinese have to stop controlling TikTok’, reports The Independent.”

President-elect Donald Trump, who will take office in a matter of days on January 20, tried to ban TikTok in 2020, but has since sought to delay it.

Content creators argue banning TikTok could jeopardize their financial security (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)

Creators, businesses, influencers, and other users of the app have argued that the ban would decimate the lucrative creator economy that depends on it.

But frantic with worry about a TikTok-less future, thousands of US users have stumbled across what could be suitable alternatives if, or rather when, the dreaded dawn comes.

A free Chinese short-form video app called Xiaohongshu, or RedNote in English, has shot to the top of the Apple App store as of Monday, followed by Lemon8, also owned by TikTok and ByteDance, as users look to migrate across.

The app functions as a cross between Instagram, TikTok, and Pinterest, and has more than 300 million monthly active users, according to The Independent, which still falls below the figures seen on TikTok.

RedNote, based in Shanghai, was founded in 2013 and was valued at $17 billion after raising funds from Chinese investors, with now more than $900 million raised in funding and 2,000 employees, reports CNBC.

The app could be banned as soon as Sunday in the US (Jaque Silva/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

And many TikTokers appear to be a fan of the alternative already.

One Georgian TikToker who goes by the username allieusyaps said: “They’re trying to ban TikTok and that’s ok”, before explaining to his 200,000 followers that ‘we on that RedNote baby’.

“Look, I might not have a job in the next week”, he continued, “but we about to learn Mandarin baby!

“RedNote is already lit. I ain’t never s*** like that. The content they got over there is really different.

“So yeah, the great migration is here.”

Another TikToker, itsjustheavita, said the alternative could be even better for influencers as ‘Chinese brands have more money than American brands’.

“Let’s get our bag y’all. To the Red Note app it is. Goodbye”, she added.

TikTok has hinted that its newly instated ban in the US could only be temporary in its message to US users last night (January 18).

Millions across the States who tried to access their TikTok feeds have been met with the same error message today, but some believe there’s light at the end of the tunnel.

Why is TikTok being banned in the US?

A federal law that was signed by President Joe Biden last year required TikTok‘s parent company ByteDance to divest its stake in TikTok’s US platform or face a ban.

ByteDance had nine months to sell the US operation to an approved buyer ahead of today’s deadline (January 19), but the Chinese company failed to meet the requirements in time.

With this in mind, the app has now gone dark for its 170,000,000 American users.

TikTok officially goes dark

For those who have tried to access TikTok since the ban was enforced, they will have been met with a message.

In such message, it seems that TikTok is somewhat optimistic that the US ban won’t be forever.

“Sorry, TikTok isn’t available right now,” the notice begins.

TikTok says the app isn’t available to US users ‘for now’ (Jacek Boczarski/Anadolu via Getty Images)

“A law banning TikTok has been enacted in the US. Unfortunately that means you can’t use TikTok for now.”

It continued: “We are fortunate that President Trump has indicated that he will work with us on a solution to reinstate TikTok once he takes office. Please stay tuned!”

So, could TikTok be saved?

It’s expected that Trump will give the company a 90-day extension after he’s sworn into office tomorrow (January 20).

Speaking to NBC News in the run up to his inauguration, the 78-year-old said: “The 90-day extension is something that will be most likely done, because it’s appropriate.

“You know, it’s appropriate. We have to look at it carefully. It’s a very big situation.”

While TikTok has indeed become unavailable to US users, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre suggested in the days running up to ByteDance’s January 19 deadline it would only go dark as a ‘stunt’.

Many hope that Donald Trump will be able to save TikTok (Nathan Posner/Anadolu via Getty Images)

“We see no reason for TikTok or other companies to take actions in the next few days before the Trump administration takes office on Monday,” she said yesterday, as per BBC News.

“We have laid out our position clearly and straightforwardly: actions to implement this law will fall to the next administration. So TikTok and other companies should take up any concerns with them.”

But the app has gone ahead with its plans to go dark.

The company claims to have asked the Biden Administration for a ‘definitive statement’ saying that it would not enforce the law or try to fine app store operators if they do not stop making TikTok available today, but the White House did not do this.