TikTok will be banned in the United States on Sunday

This Sunday, January 19, 2025, TikTok will be inaccessible in the United States. Unless using a VPN, US users will no longer be able to access one of the most popular social networks. In question, the decision of the Supreme Court to ban the application. TikTok can still hope for several solutions: that TikTok is sold to an American actor, or that Donald Trump restores access to it – he will be inaugurated President of the United States the next day.

Supreme Court confirms: TikTok will be banned from the United States

It is The Verge which reports this January 17 the decision of the American Supreme Court. The latter declared that the law concerning the banning of TikTok is in accordance with the country’s constitution. It was the last resort for the Chinese publishing company ByteDance: to plead the unconstitutionality of the law. She even brandished the First Amendment to the United States Constitution to try to avoid banishment.

As the judges wrote, “ Congress determined that divestment was necessary to address its well-supported national security concerns regarding TikTok’s data collection practices and its dealings with a foreign adversary. » What ByteDance is criticized for is collecting too much data while being “ vulnerable » towards the Chinese government, which poses a national security problem.

The Supreme Court considers that the “ via TikTok » was neutral in terms of its content. She writes that brandishing the First Amendment was not legitimate, because the application serves ” an important government interest unrelated to freedom of expression ».

How ByteDance can still avoid banning

To lift this sanction, ByteDance must sell TikTok to an American company. The publisher has always refused, although rumors may have indicated his wish to sell. It seems unlikely that an agreement will be reached before this Sunday. Especially since TikTok in the United States is valued at 40 to 50 billion dollars: few players can quickly put such a sum on the table.

In the small papers, there is indeed the Project Liberty of billionaire Frank McCourt, who wishes to buy the application by removing the recommendation algorithm. He wants to integrate his own algorithm, protected by ByteDance. Media reports have also revealed that Chinese authorities would like to ask Elon Musk to buy TikTok. The latter strongly denied it.

There remains one solution: for the Biden government to extend the sales deadline by 90 days, as provided for by law. Joe Biden’s teams do not seem ready at the moment, especially since they have not seen any signs of progress in the sale.

How will the TikTok shutdown work?

TikTok is not required to close access to the app to users based in the United States; it is in fact the service providers who will have the obligation to cut the connection. We are talking here about Oracle, Apple and even Google.

There is no doubt that these companies will take charge of cutting off access to TikTok; if they don’t enforce the law, they run a big financial risk. According to The Information, the servers will be disconnected and users will no longer be able to use it. The app is also expected to disappear from the App Store and Play Store. Users will still be able to download their data and TikTok employees in the United States invited to work on the rest of the social network.

Donald Trump, now the only savior of TikTok?

The matter is one of the most urgent to resolve for Donald Trump, as he prepares to take the helm of the country this Monday, January 20. The future president declared that he would try to block the ban, although it was not clear how. He had asked the Supreme Court to decide, but the latter has just dismissed ByteDance. Even if Trump takes action right after being sworn in, TikTok will be blocked for at least a day.

Given his policies of protecting American businesses, it would not be in Trump’s interest to save TikTok. It could do so, but by setting conditions: simply extend the sales deadline, or obtain guarantees on the data of American users. The latter are already looking towards RedNote, an alternative to TikTok under Chinese ownership.