The Supreme Court has just sounded the death knell for TikTok in the United States. The application will be banned from Sunday, unless there is an improbable turnaround. Immersed in a decision with serious consequences…
It’s a decision that risks becoming a landmark. This Friday, the United States Supreme Court rejected TikTok’s appeal against its ban on American soil, which will take effect this Sunday, January 19. A thunderclap for the 170 million users of the application in the country, and whose repercussions could extend well beyond.
A decision motivated by national security issues
Behind this decision is a standoff that has lasted for almost two years between the American government and ByteDance, the Chinese parent company of TikTok. Washington accuses the application of representing a threat to national security, due to possible transfers of data from American users to China.
Last April, Congress passed a law requiring ByteDance to sell TikTok’s American activities before January 19, 2025, under penalty of ban. It is therefore this worst-case scenario that is looming, the Supreme Court having refused to suspend the application of the law as requested by TikTok.
170 million users in uncertainty
For American TikTok users, it’s a cold shower. From Sunday, the application will no longer be downloadable from application stores. Those who have already installed it will be able to continue using it initially, but without any update, which will quickly make it unusable.
TikTok has revolutionized the way I market. I don’t know what I’m going to do without…
– Emily, influenceuse lifestyle.
Many users, particularly among the youngest, fear the social impact of this disappearance. In just a few years, TikTok has become an essential vector of expression, creativity and influence for an entire generation.
An uncertain future for the application
If the ax falls this Sunday, twists and turns remain possible. According to sources close to the matter, US President Donald Trump, struggling in the polls, could try to postpone the ban for several months by decree.
But this would not solve the fundamental problem for TikTok: without selling its American activities to a local company, its future seems compromised across the Atlantic. Microsoft and Walmart positioned themselves two years ago, without success. Recently, a rumor suggested a takeover by Elon Musk, which has since been denied by the person concerned.
-A new stage in the Sino-American techno-political rivalry
Beyond the TikTok case, this decision illustrates the rise in tensions between the United States and China on the technological front. Washington is increasing its offensives against Chinese tech giants, from Huawei to WeChat to semiconductors.
On the other hand, Beijing denounces a protectionist policy and an attack on freedom of trade. But China is not left out, with increasingly strict control of data and increasingly restricted access to its market for foreign digital companies.
We are witnessing increasing fragmentation of the global internet, with the emergence of rival digital blocs.
– Analyzes an expert in digital geopolitics.
The ban on TikTok in the United States could therefore set a precedent and accelerate this strong trend towards technological decoupling between the two superpowers. With the risk of a breakup of the web into competing spheres of influence.
What consequences for other social networks?
This TikTok affair may also worry other major web platforms, both American and foreign. It shows that the pretext of national security can threaten their activity in certain countries, depending on geopolitical relations and sovereign choices regarding data.
- Will Facebook, Twitter and others fear a similar fate in China or other states?
- Or on the contrary, take advantage of the exclusion of a strong competitor from certain markets?
One thing is certain: the ban on TikTok will redistribute the cards and the audiences, in an already ultra-competitive and volatile sector. Instagram and YouTube, in particular, are ready to recover orphaned TikTok users.
The ban on TikTok in the United States therefore raises a multitude of issues: technological, economic, political, geopolitical, social… It could mark a turning point, that of an increased fragmentation of the network of networks under the effect of rivalries between power and temptation of digital sovereignty. See you on Sunday for the start of a new (digital) world?
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