The House of Representatives' lopsided vote Wednesday in favor of a bill that would ban TikTok in the United States unless it is freed from Chinese control suggests that the wildly popular short-video app may soon join Netscape and Myspace in the dustbin of history.
But the situation is much more complicated than that.
Policymakers agree that TikTok poses unique threats to privacy and security because of the Chinese government's influence over its owner, Beijing-based ByteDance. But the app has a powerful, if recently converted, backer in former President Trump, meaning Republicans who typically support any bill to reduce Chinese influence are divided on TikTok's proposal.
Furthermore, TikTok attracts the attention of an estimated 150 million Americans each month, nearly half of whom are active users, making it one of the most popular apps in the country — despite concerns about privacy, misinformation and harm to young users. The potential ban has drawn strong objections from across the country, including from entrepreneurs, small businesses and marketers who say it would be a financial shock.
Some opponents of the ban have called it a violation of the First Amendment. Others questioned why TikTok was classified as a threat, considering the number of apps that collect their users' personal data. Some believed that the draft law would only benefit the American technology giants Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram, and Alphabet, which owns YouTube.
Here's a quick summary of what's happening, why it's happening, and what it means for TikTok users.
What does the bill ask TikTok?
The House-passed bill seeks to do the same thing Trump sought to do as president: take TikTok out of the hands of a Chinese company subject to Chinese law. The Trump administration went so far as to ban TikTok in the United States in 2020. However, this order was blocked by two federal courts who held that the administration exceeded its authority.
ByteDance, a venture capital-funded internet-focused startup founded in China in 2012, owns 100% of TikTok. Although outside investors control 60% of ByteDance, according to Axios, the Chinese company retains operational control.
The new bill, which passed through the House of Representatives, would prohibit companies from distributing, maintaining or updating an “application controlled by a foreign adversary,” or providing internet hosting services to companies that do any of those things. The law defines “foreign adversary-controlled application” as ByteDance, TikTok, and their successors, although it would give the president the authority to designate other social media and communications applications with 1 million or more users that are controlled by people residing in a “hostile foreign state.” “.
If passed by the Senate and signed into law, the measure would give ByteDance 180 days to end Chinese control, which would require it to limit Chinese investors to a 20% stake in the company. This may require ByteDance to spin off TikTok into an independent company with limited Chinese investment.
If ByteDance does not comply, the bill would require it to allow users to retrieve all of their data, including all information about their preferences, views and uploads, in a format that can be transferred to another social media app.
Who uses Tik Tok?
According to the Pew Research Center, 33% of American adults said last year they used TikTok. That's a lot of people, but it pales in comparison to the number using other major social media platforms. According to Pew, last year 83% of US adults said they used YouTube, and 47% said they used Instagram.
Young people are much more likely to use TikTok than their parents, but they also use YouTube and Instagram even more. According to Pew, 62% of people ages 18-29 say they use TikTok, as do 63% of people ages 13-17.
“To me, TikTok is modern television, so any kind of disruption in it will really hurt people — not just creators — because people really enjoy it,” said TV personality Foodgod, formerly known as Jonathan Cheban.
Foodgod, who has 8.5 million followers of his food and lifestyle videos on TikTok, said he scrolls through social media apps on his phone hourly and enjoys the casual atmosphere on TikTok. He said banning it would be “literally like walking into someone's room and ripping their TV off the wall, which I think is crazy.”
“But honestly, I think TikTok is here to stay. There are a lot of people using it and a lot of people loving it,” he said. “It seems like you have more freedom on TikTok to do what you want. It's not like Instagram, everything is very structured and you have to make it perfect.
Can the government really ban TikTok?
Senate passage may be the smallest remaining hurdle to ban TikTok.
ByteDance and other opponents of the bill will almost certainly challenge it in court on First Amendment grounds, just as they successfully challenged Montana's attempt to ban the app. Advocates of the bill say it does not infringe on free speech because it targets ByteDance's behavior, not content on the app. But critics say the bill would not protect Americans from having their data collected by foreign interests.
Telecom industry experts say it's technically possible to ban TikTok, but there are problems.
First, the bill would not remove TikTok from phones that already have it. However, it will prevent companies from offering TikTok updates, which could make the app unusable over time as phone operating systems change.
Second, although the bill would force Google Play and the App Store to stop distributing TikTok in the US, it would not apply to non-US sources of mobile software, nor would it be as easy to enforce on unofficial online sites. So the app and its updates will remain available to people willing and able to “download” them from these sources.
This isn't difficult on an Android phone, but on an Apple iPhone, it's much more difficult — at least for now. Apple has just started allowing some form of sideloading in Europe, in response to the European Digital Markets Act.
However, Emma Lanso, former director of the Freedom of Expression Project at the Center for Democracy and Technology, said there is a trade-off to this approach. Without regular privacy and security updates, the app will become “a big target for people looking to exploit outdated software,” she said. “It creates this other kind of vulnerabilities that could impact millions of people, including a lot of young people,” she added.
If the government officially bans TikTok, network operators could block traffic between the company's servers and users in the United States. But the app's massive user base may scramble to find ways around any barriers, such as using virtual private networks to connect to TikTok across other countries, said Michael Calabrese, director of the Wireless Future Project at New America. “The smart Chinese can do it, so [it] “It should be a lot easier here,” Calabrese said. “I wouldn't be surprised if this became a thing.”
What does the ban mean for content creators and small businesses?
An effective ban — which, again, is not a certainty even if the bill becomes law — would mean at least three things for content creators.
Established creators will be isolated from the loyal audience of followers they have worked to build. New and established content creators alike will lose access to the giant global viewer market. Creatives of all stripes will have one less outlet for their work that offers unique tools and sensibilities.
The same is true for the estimated 7 million small businesses that use TikTok to boost sales, by app count. According to a survey conducted by software consultant Capterra last year, small and medium-sized businesses say their marketing efforts get much more engagement on TikTok than on other social media networks.
According to the Capterra survey, companies find the social network particularly useful in capitalizing on trends, creating a distinct brand position and educating customers about their products and services.
To be sure, there are other short-form video platforms that make up the vast majority of TikTok content, including Instagram Reels and YouTube #Shorts. Like TikTok, they use secret and confusing algorithms to decide which videos to show to users; The lessons creators learned on TikTok about how to generate views and build an audience may not apply anywhere else.
Tales abound of people who quit their day jobs so they can build a business out of TikTok videos. The platform is not just limited to dancers, lip syncers and scammers, it has also become a serious means of e-commerce. The app launched TikTok Shop in September, quickly generating $7 million in sales per day.
“I'm kind of in denial to be honest,” said Kelsey Martinez, 32, a TikTok creator who lives in Pasadena. “I never thought this could actually happen. If TikTok disappeared tomorrow, it would change my whole life.”
Martinez joined the platform in 2022, and has mainly been posting about her weight-loss journey. Last summer, after expanding her videos to include fashion, beauty, and lifestyle content, her TikTok account took off, and today has grown to more than 287,000 followers. She earns a portion of sales made through product links included in her videos, and has landed merchandising deals with skincare companies Murad and Salt & Stone as well as Lizzo's shapewear brand, Yitty.
“I actually walked away from my full-time job because I was able to make a living and earn several times my annual salary through TikTok. That's really what it's all about,” said Martinez, who previously worked in human resources at a nonprofit.
“This is what I do, this is my job. I would definitely take a hit if I disappeared,” she said.
Many creators say they already post their TikTok videos to Instagram and other platforms (and vice versa), though results can vary wildly and unpredictably. TikTok creators who haven't already showcased their work on multiple platforms have a few months to do so before the federal ban takes effect.
Keep in mind that sites have different methods for monetizing videos and generating income for content creators. Building an audience is a different challenge on each platform; For example, Meta-owned Facebook and Instagram encourage creators to pay to target specific types of viewers, while building an audience on TikTok is more organic, said Kelis Landrum, co-founder of Los Angeles marketing agency True North Social.
TikTok influencer Ashley Dunham has been carefully following news of the proposed ban and has already made some adjustments to her social media strategy.
“I've started posting more of my content on Instagram, and surprisingly it's getting some attention,” said Dunham, whose posts chronicle her experience with semaglutide (the active ingredient in Ozempic), plastic surgery and polycystic ovary syndrome. “The downside to Instagram is that it's always two weeks behind trends.”
The 33-year-old from Jacksonville, Florida, called the potential TikTok ban “a disservice not only to creators but to Americans as a whole,” saying US-based apps similarly collect personal data from users and can be manipulated.
What does the ban mean for parents?
Aside from the national security concerns surrounding China's access to TikTok users' personal data, the biggest complaint about the app is how well it has captured the attention of young users. In a Pew survey last year, 17% of teens said they used TikTok almost constantly, and 32% used it several times a day.
Other concerns are more safety-related, including fears that TikTok videos could fuel eating disorders and that videos young people make of themselves will expose them to predators. The app's default settings attempt to address these concerns, although settings can be changed or circumvented by specific users.
If TikTok disappeared tomorrow, that wouldn't stop kids from staring at their cell phones for hours on end. According to the Pew poll, 46% of teens said they were online almost constantly — a much higher percentage than the percentage associated with TikTok. 47% said they were online several times a day.
Complaints about TikTok being addictive, promoting unhealthy behavior and risk of predation have been directed at other social media networks as well.
