Why is TikTok getting banned in the US – and could it happen in the UK?

TikTok’s days are numbered aft the Supreme Court backed a ban successful the US.

Lawmakers had told the societal media platform’s China-based proprietor to merchantability up oregon determination connected erstwhile Congress passed a instrumentality to different prohibition it past year.

Instead, proprietor ByteDance appealed to the USA’s highest court, which has present ruled 9-0 successful favour of the law.

Now TikTok’s 170million US users look losing the pursuing they’ve amassed and the For You Pages they’ve cautiously trained the algorithm to curate.

For Brits, that means nary much of your favourite American influencers, and nary much occurrence wars implicit whose nutrient is much beige, bland and bizarre.

In a statement, the White House said: ‘TikTok should stay disposable to Americans, but simply nether American ownership oregon different ownership that addresses the nationalist information concerns identified by Congress successful processing this law.’

Why is TikTok getting banned successful the US?

TikTok has been accused of posing a nationalist information hazard due to the fact that of information harvested from users.

‘Do we privation the information from TikTok – children’s data, adults’ information – to beryllium going, to beryllium staying present successful America oregon going to China?’, White House nationalist information advisor Jake Sullivan said successful March past year.

China’s authorities insists it would ne'er inquire Chinese companies to ‘collect oregon supply data, accusation oregon intelligence’ held abroad.

But a 2017 National Intelligence Law requires ‘any organization’ to cooperate with and cod grounds with Chinese authorities intelligence

Although TikTok says it stores US idiosyncratic information successful Singapore and the US, not China, its CEO Shou Zi Chew did admit that determination is simply a Chinese authoritative connected the ByteDance board.

Combined with the size of TikTok’s audience, and the powerfulness of its algorithm for recommending engaging content, determination is simply a fearfulness it could beryllium utilized to power the US public.

Misinformation and power campaigns are rampant connected different platforms – similar Facebook, X and Instagram excessively – but they haven’t been singled retired successful the aforesaid way.

TikTok’s refusal to merchantability is seen arsenic impervious by US Republicans that their fears were fair.

Tom Cotton, seat of the Senate Republicans, said: ‘ByteDance and its Chinese Communist masters had 9 months to merchantability TikTok earlier the Sunday deadline.

‘The precise information that Communist China refuses to licence its merchantability reveals precisely what TikTok is: a communist spy app.

‘The Supreme Court correctly rejected TikTok’s lies and propaganda masquerading arsenic ineligible arguments.

When does it travel into force?

TikTok has until Sunday, January 19, to sell. If it doesn’t find a non-China-based buyer, a US prohibition volition travel into force. No merchantability appears imminent.

In a connection connected Friday, White House property caput Karine Jean-Pierre said: ‘TikTok should stay disposable to Americans, but simply nether American ownership oregon different ownership that addresses the nationalist information concerns identified by Congress successful processing this law.’

But, with Donald Trump owed to beryllium inaugurated connected Monday, the Biden medication is leaving it for his successor to determine what to do.

So it could beryllium banned arsenic soon arsenic Sunday, oregon immoderate clip adjacent week, if Trump – who opposes the prohibition – doesn’t overturn it.

How does the prohibition enactment and could it beryllium lifted?

In a statement, TikTok said: ‘Unless the Biden Administration instantly provides a definitive connection to fulfill the astir captious work providers assuring non-enforcement, unfortunately TikTok will beryllium forced to spell acheronian connected January 19.’

Existing users volition inactive person the app connected their phones, and volition beryllium capable to unfastened it. But what they spot whitethorn beryllium different, adjacent if it’s not rather a acheronian screen.

TikTok is understood to beryllium readying to redirect users to a leafage showing accusation astir the prohibition erstwhile they effort to unfastened the app from this date.

Enforcing a full prohibition is tricky erstwhile it’s already truthful widespread, but caller users won’t beryllium capable to download TikTok due to the fact that it volition person been removed from Apple and Google app stores.

People utilizing a VPN to look arsenic if they’re extracurricular the US whitethorn inactive beryllium capable to download the app and usage it arsenic normal.

Trump, who has 14.8million followers connected TikTok, could instruct the justness section to disregard the ban, but lone temporarily.

Some Senators, some Republican and Democrat, person been calling for the prohibition to beryllium reversed due to the fact that they accidental it infringes connected escaped speech.

As Trump has pegged himself to the contented of escaped speech, helium whitethorn propulsion his value down these Senators and propulsion Congress the walk a measure ending the ban.

Or, Trump whitethorn effort to find a mode for ByteDance to merchantability TikTok.

But TikTok – which has much than a cardinal users astir the world, and conscionable 170million successful the US – mightiness determine it tin unrecorded without them.

Where other is TikTok banned?

Albania banned TikTok for a twelvemonth starting astatine the extremity of 2024 aft the authorities blamed it for an summation successful home violence.

India banned TikTok on with 58 different Chinese-created apps successful 2020 pursuing escalating tensions betwixt the 2 countries.

The Indian authorities said that it wanted to ‘protect the information and privacy’ of its citizens.

Pakistan has temporarily banned TikTok respective times owed to what it deems to beryllium immoral contented connected the platform.

Afghanistan’s Taliban authorities has banned TikTok for akin reasons.

Jordan banned it aft protests. Nepal did truthful due to the fact that it said TikTok disturbed ‘social harmony and bully will’.

It is besides banned successful Somalia owed to ‘terrorists and immoral groups’ utilizing it to ‘spread changeless horrific images and misinformation’.

Uzbekistan banned it owed to information extortion concerns.

Some countries person banned TikTok connected government-owned devices owed to the hazard of information postulation and information risks. This includes Australia, Estonia, the UK, France, the Netherlands, Norway, Belgium, Denmark, Canada, New Zealand, Taiwan, arsenic good arsenic the EU.

In Russia, TikTok is inactive disposable but users can’t upload caller videos. 

There is simply a abstracted mentation of the app successful China, called Douyin.

Could it hap successful the UK?

Although TikTok is banned from government-issued phones, determination is no grounds the UK is readying to prohibition the app entirely.

However, immoderate MPs person raised concerns astir the societal media platform.

Liam Byrne, Labour MP and seat of the House of Commons concern and commercialized committee, told the Financial Times that helium was disquieted astir TikTok’s relation successful the dispersed of disinformation.

‘If you’ve got an organisation that could beryllium influenced by idiosyncratic similar China, that should beryllium a substance of concern,’ helium said.

Conservative MP Iain Duncan Smith told Politico that the UK should travel America and besides instrumentality a ban.

What is being considered successful the UK is simply a societal media prohibition for under-16s, akin to 1 precocious made instrumentality successful Australia.

There is simply a backstage member’s measure – projected by backbench Labour MP Josh MacAlister – that could, if it became law, summation the ‘age of net adulthood’ from 13 to 16, but the details of this connection are unclear.

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