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TikTok on the Clock: The Looming Nationwide Ban

Posted by on Friday, January 31, 2025 in Blog Posts.

By Kelly RodriguezPhoto CreditAP

The clock is ticking as President Trump signed an executive order extending the enforcement of the TikTok ban by 75 days following the U.S. Supreme Court decision upholding a law that forces TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, to either divest from the popular app or face an outright ban in the United States.[1] The extension follows the dramatic shutdown of the app in the United States that began for users on the night of Saturday, January 18.[2] While the app is back up and running, the ramifications of a TikTok ban would affect not only users and content creators but would reshape the regulatory framework governing social media platforms in the United States.[3]

TikTok’s popularity stems from its highly engaging content, powerful algorithm, influencer marketing, and modes of creative expression, but beyond the flashy trends, viral challenges, and famous creators, lie concerns around national security and privacy issues.[4] The platform, which has about 170 million users in the United States, is owned by ByteDance, a Chinese technology company, and has faced mounting scrutiny surrounding its data collection practices.[5] Consequently, concerns around the collection of sensitive user data have led lawmakers to consider next steps.[6] More specifically, U.S. officials claim TikTok’s access to personal user data may pose national security risks.[7] The U.S. government has already banned TikTok on government-owned devices, but an overall TikTok ban would have sweeping effects, such as setting precedent for the regulation of other social media platforms, enhanced scrutiny for platform’s data privacy practices, disrupting the marketing strategies for businesses that capitalize on the platform, and creating free speech First Amendment concerns.[8]

If a solution is not created by the end of the extension, the likely direct implications to users would be the eventual degradation of the app, as “Apple and Alphabet’s Google would no longer be able to offer TikTok for downloads for new users . . . and the app would eventually become unusable over time because companies would not be able to offer supporting services.”[9] The fate of not only TikTok, but the broader implications of how governments regulate global technology companies while balancing the rights of individuals in the digital age remains at stake.[10]

 

Kelly Rodriguez is currently a 2L at Vanderbilt Law School. She is from Madison, Wisconsin, and graduated from the University of Kentucky in 2022 with a major in marketing and a minor in political science.

 

[1] Christine Mui, Trump signs executive order to give TikTok extension, Politico (Jan. 20, 2025, 8:45 PM), https://www.politico.com/news/2025/01/20/trump-tiktok-extension-executive-order-00199545; Greg Stohr, Supreme Court Signals It’s Likely to Uphold TikTok Ban in the US, Bloomberg Law (Jan. 10, 2025, 2:54 PM), https://news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/supreme-court-signals-its-likely-to-uphold-tiktok-ban-in-us?utm_source=chatgpt.com.

[2]  Aaron Pellish and Brian Stelter, TikTok shuts down in the United States hours ahead of ban, CNN (Jan. 19, 2025, 7:12 AM), https://www.cnn.com/2025/01/18/business/trump-tiktok-ban/index.html.

[3] See Mui, supra note 1; Stohr, supra note 1.

[4] See Matthew Dolman, Why Do U.S. Officials Want to Ban TikTok, Lawsuit Legal News (June 20, 2024), https://lawsuitlegalnews.com/news/why-do-u-s-officials-want-to-ban-tiktok/?utm_source=chatgpt.com.

[5] David Shepardson, TikTok warns of broad consequences if Supreme Court allows ban, Reuters (Jan. 13, 2025, 4:08 AM), https://www.reuters.com/legal/tiktok-warns-broader-consequences-if-us-supreme-court-allows-ban-2025-01-11/?utm_source=chatgpt.com.

[6] Dolman, supra note 4.

[7] See id.

[8] See id.

[9] Shepardson, supra note 5.

[10] See Mui, supra note 1; Dolman, supra note 3.