“My turn to cry on the Internet about the TikTok ban,” wrote Emily Senn in the caption of one of her latest videos, with a touch of irony and her face covered in tears. Like other American users, the influencer followed by some 347,000 subscribers is worried about the announced disappearance of the social network in the United States.
Last April, American elected officials adopted a law that paves the way for banning the platform, accusing China of using it to access user data and attempt to manipulate American public opinion. To escape banning, the American branch of TikTok had until January 19 to cut all ties with its parent company Byte Dance and with China. When contacted, the United States Supreme Court refused to suspend this law. “TikTok will unfortunately be forced to shut down on January 19,” the company confirmed on X.
“It got me through some very difficult times”
Enough to disappoint the 170 million American users and especially certain influencers for whom TikTok has become the main source of income. “I feel so stupid for (…) crying over an app. But I found a real community there, for years. It allowed me to get through very difficult times in my life: the pandemic, losing my job, my divorce,” explains Emily Senn in her video. “I’m not crying. I’m just watching the life and community I built be destroyed,” laments Chloebluffcakes, an influencer with 2.5 million subscribers, who says the app allowed her to become financially independent after the death. of his mother.
The hashtag #KeepTikTok, used in particular by Chloebluffcakes, brings together more than 230,000 videos this Saturday. Other users have chosen to migrate to Red Note, an application similar to TikTok, also based in China.
“We should not expect an immediate closure of TikTok on Sunday,” nevertheless recalls Olivier Alexandre, research fellow at CNRS and author of the book “La Tech. When Silicon Valley remakes the world. Indeed, the law first plans to block the download of TikTok from application stores as well as updates to the platform. It is only later that the application could slowly die. “As a result of technological death, not being able to update the application will ultimately make its use impossible,” explains the researcher.
An intervention by Donald Trump?
Furthermore, different scenarios are still possible to avoid a ban on TikTok on American soil. The prospect of a buyout offer seized at the last minute by Byte Dance is fading away but remains possible. Earlier this week, the Bloomberg agency revealed that the Chinese authorities were considering a takeover by Elon Musk, already owner of X (formerly Twitter). However, such an operation would imply a concentration of two major social networks in the hands of the same owner, which “could pose a problem from the point of view of antitrust law”, points out Olivier Alexandre.
-For its part, TikTok denied this information, claiming that it was “pure fiction”.
In the absence of a takeover of the American branch, “a presidential decree could still cancel the ban” on TikTok, underlines Olivier Alexandre. This decree could be taken as soon as Donald Trump is inaugurated on Monday January 20, where Shou Zi Chew, the boss of TikTok, is personally invited.
A decision expected Monday
For the moment, Donald Trump has not made a decision but told NBC News that he was instead considering a 90-day extension of the deadline given to Byte Dance to separate from its American branch. “If I decide to do it, I will probably announce it on Monday,” he added. “Some of the Tech figures who supported his campaign are pushing for a patriotic technology industry and therefore a ban on TikTok or a takeover by an American company,” explains Olivier Alexandre.
The Republican himself tried to have the social network banned during his first term. Then, during the last presidential campaign, he finally joined the application and largely pleaded for its maintenance.
