How a TikTok ban in the US would work – and why user workarounds won’t

Users could try to access a web-based version of TikTok via a browser while using a VPN, but the web version lacks many features of the app

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A person holds a TikTok sign in New York City’s Washington Square Park on January 14.TikTok could face a ban on January 19 due to a law requiring the platform to sever ties with its China-based parent company ByteDance, or cease its US operations. Photo: AFP

Published: 7:37pm, 16 Jan 2025Updated: 7:39pm, 16 Jan 2025

Social media app TikTok, which is owned by China’s ByteDance, will be banned in the United States on Sunday unless a deal comes together to sell it to a US investor or the US Supreme Court intervenes.

The ban results from an April law signed by President Joe Biden and is the first time the United States has attempted to shut down access to an app with such a large user base – roughly 170 million domestic users.

To pull it off, the law targets a wide swathe of US-based partners that help bring TikTok to users, rendering most easy workarounds such as using a virtual private network or changing a phone’s country settings moot or difficult to use, experts told Reuters.

At best, users might be able to access a web-based version of the service that has fewer features than the app, and even that might not work, experts said.

Here’s a closer look at how the ban will be implemented.

The law will not force users to delete the app. But TikTok plans to shut down the service and will show users a message about the law and offer to let them download their personal data, Reuters previously reported.