The last year has been filled with numerous reports that social media giant TikTok will be banned in the United States.
All of this began in April when the Biden government introduced a law that would essentially shut down the platform in the US, marking the first time the country has attempted to ban such a large platform.
TikTok has around 170 million users in the US.
That law culminated in an ultimatum—TikTok could either pack its bags and leave the country or sell to a US investor.
Alternatively, the US Supreme Court could intervene and can the ban, but that looks highly unlikely as TikTok’s last day will precede President Joe Biden’s last day in office before Donald Trump takes up the mantle.
Either way, TikTok has been preparing for its shuttering in the country. Yet, the company revealed that its US employees will retain their jobs even if the app is banned.
Depending upon who you believe, TikTok may still have a fighting chance.
Some reports say the Biden administration is reconsidering its decision and exploring ways to keep the app alive in the country, while also planning to push the date to allow the Trump administration to take the ultimate decision.
On the flip side, other reports say Trump will come in and issue an executive order to suspend enforcement of a shutdown for 60 to 90 days. Ahead of this, several US lawmakers feel the company should be given more time to sell its assets before the ban is enforced.
“We will put measures in place to keep TikTok from going dark,” said US Representative Mike Waltz.
Some reports also mention that TikTok’s CEO Shou Zi Chew is expected to attend US President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration, and has been invited to sit in a position of honor on the dais.
For users, the ban means more than just not getting updates, as experts warn workarounds will probably not be as effective. For one, updates won’t be available on any app store; second, TikTok will be devoid of a healthy reserve of videos featuring US users; third, the web version could work with a VPN but lacks many key features; fourth, switching the phone’s country settings will require canceling existing app subscriptions.
One suggested fix involves relocating to another country. Any takers?
Regardless of this decision, the social media space has been filled with new opportunities for other social networking platforms, particularly Chinese-owned Xiaohongshu.
Trouble reading the name? To make it easier, Xiaohongshu literally translates to Little Red Book. However, its designated codename in the social media world is RedNote.
The looming TikTok ban has pushed over 3.4 million daily active US users to the social app (which comes with a Mandarin interface), with the users calling themselves “TikTok refugees”. They join 300 million Mandarin speakers in China and around the world.
This growing migration has resulted in RedNote scrambling to hire English-speaking content moderators to help manage the sudden blast of English videos, with job listings spread across multiple recruitment platforms.
The app is said to be China’s alternative to Meta’s Instagram, and functions as a lifestyle recommendations app, from beauty to food and everything in between.
At the same time, the app’s backers are weighing up to sell a part of their stake to companies such as Tencent, a move that could see RedNote’s valuation hit at least $20 billion.
This move has also witnessed a 216% surge in Americans flocking to Duolingo to learn Mandarin.
All of this is happening despite data privacy concerns related to RedNote, which is what initially triggered TikTok’s ban. Is it a never-ending cycle?
Amidst all of this, Bluesky, the app that gained fame as an alternative to X (formerly Twitter), announced it will be launching its own photo-sharing app to rival Meta (and cash-in on TikTok’s potential US demise?).
The app will be called Flashes. It’s not currently launched but will be entering “an open Testflight beta” next week.
Circling back to TikTok’s fate in the US, we’ll just have to wait for Sunday to learn if they’re going to stay or they’re going to go.
In the meanwhile, to make matters worse for TikTok, the company, along with five other Chinses companies were hit by privacy complaints in the European Union. Vienna-based Noyb (None Of Your Business) claimed TikTok, Shein, Xiaomi and three others were unlawfully sending EU user data to China.
Do you think the United States’ decision to ban TikTok is justified as it cites national security concerns, or do you think the app should be unbanned? Do you think Red Note will be able to grow to TikTok’s size in the case of a ban?
Let us know in the comments below!