Is TikTok Getting Banned? Maybe [2024]

According to data, TikTok has around 1 billion monthly active users, making it one of the leading platforms for Video Creation and social media worldwide.

But TikTok has faced a severe backlash over the years while facing a ban in a lot of countries.

It has been known that TikTok’s data security is a major concern for the citizens of many parts of the world. This concern is now taken as a national security issue, and a question of the app’s existence is now raging everywhere. 

Although a complete shutdown of the app is a far-fetched thing, here is everything you can know about the TikTok app and its ban. The news of the TikTok ban is circulated occasionally by governments & lawmakers of different countries. Let’s dig deep to understand more.

Is TikTok Getting Banned? Maybe

Due to security concerns, governments in the U.S., Europe, India, and Canada have intensified their efforts to restrict access to TikTok, the top-rated short-form video app owned by the Chinese business ByteDance.

TikTok, controlled by the Chinese company, has raised worries among governments regarding the potential risk to user data. It explains why TikTok users are feeling more strain.

However, the CEO of TikTok, Shou Zi Chew, has claimed that the service has never given Chinese authorities access to user data from American users. “China authorities have never requested or been given access to U.S. user data by TikTok.” 

In a written statement to the House of Representatives Energy and Commerce Committee in March 2023, Chew stated that TikTok would not comply with such a request, should one ever be made, according to Reuters. “Let me be clear: ByteDance is not an agent of China or any other nation,” Chew said in his statement.

However, the spokesman underlines issues with the app’s compliance with content regulations. He says, “There’s unease about the kind of content that TikTok permits, like hate speech, violent videos, or dangerous challenges.”

Why Is TikTok Getting Banned?

Government officials are interested in banning the TikTok app nationwide for several grounds. Here are some of the reasons why the government is supporting the banning of TikTok:

Reasons Why Governments Are Banning TikTok

As the word goes around, a lot of countries are facing TikTok bans due to national security concerns. Here are the appropriate reasons why governments are banning TikTok. 

#1. Security of data

The main fear is that TikTok might act as an outlet for the Chinese government to acquire information about users of various nations, including their location, habits, and actions. 

The data being stored in a Chinese app also raises national security worries. It might be utilized for user spying because the Chinese government’s mandate corporations to provide user data to the authorities upon request.

#2. Misleading information

Sometimes, misleading information videos go viral on the platform, creating significant chaos that is hard to handle.

However, according to TikTok, it aggressively tries to eliminate disinformation and does not tolerate it as part of its community guidelines. It also doesn’t take political advertisements.

#3. Addictive to children

TikTok’s addictive nature is a worry, especially for children. It can lead to child abuse, and misuse of the application is one of the concerns, among others.

Although TikTok offers a different user experience to users younger than 13. For instance, they can’t utilize the private chat feature or get viral. The app also offers a feature instructing users to stop using it after sixty minutes.

#4. Emotional and mental health

It is concerning when content encourages smoking, eating problems, or suicide. That can have bad effects on teenagers or youth.

Nonetheless, TikTok maintains a content control policy and seeks to delete offensive material like most social media platforms.

A Brief Record Of Attempts To Ban The TikTok App

People speculate that Washington is worried that China may control an app many Americans use. Thus, Washington might prohibit TikTok. TikTok, meanwhile, is positioning itself to be acquired by an American business.

They established an American CEO (a former chairman of Disney), ensured TikTok’s data centers were located in a different place than China, and divided the company’s American activities from TikTok’s parent. Since Musical.ly, an American startup that TikTok acquired in 2017, was initially owned by ByteDance, this was easy.

After that, what happens? Let’s find out by diving into the quick history of attempts to ban the TikTok app:

August to December 2020

In August- If an American corporation does not purchase TikTok within 45 days, President Trump issued an executive order prohibiting the app.

Oracle and additional investors are looking to make a bid to buy TikTok’s U.S. business.

In September- TikTok filed a court order to stop the app from being banned. It causes the ban to hold up.

In December- A federal judge halted the TikTok ban imposed by the Trump administration. Congress refers to the proposed restriction as “arbitrary.” 

In addition, the ruling states that there was no “reasonable alternative before banning TikTok.”

June 2021

President Biden has formally withdrawn President Trump’s request to prohibit TikTok users. The new government demands that apps like TikTok be screened for security flaws. They want to use an “evidence-based” strategy.

December 2022

TikTok promotes brand-new security strategies that national security organizations supervise. The platform announced the creation of a Trust and Safety Team in the U.S. to safeguard user privacy and data.

March 2023

President Biden receives clearance from the U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee to ban TikTok. If a ban were to occur, according to reporting by Reuters, this would be “the most far-reaching U.S. restriction on any social media app.

“In an official statement, TikTok refers to the regulation as “rushed.” Additionally, the proposed prohibition is said to have a “considerably negative impact on the free speech rights of millions of Americans,” according to the statement.

The RESTRICT Act was introduced by a group of U.S. senators from both parties. The proposed law would grant the federal government additional authority to limit and outlaw Chinese-origin technologies. TikTok would fall under this.

Impact Of TikTok Ban On Brands, Influencers And Startups?

TikTok is the big platform for a broad network of brands, influencers, and startups operating within active online communities. Let’s go through the impact of the TikTok ban upon them:

Brands

Brands who began considering TikTok as a valuable tool for audience outreach saw opportunities arise. Companies use the site to create creative campaigns. Additionally, TikTok has been improving the services it offers to advertising. That being said, a lot of things will be impacted by this ban.

Brands must modify their advertising and content to suit other platforms’ standards and trends, which can differ from those on TikTok. It will undoubtedly force brands to reconsider their approaches to influencer marketing.

Influencers

Influencers need to locate other brands to work with or join new ventures for business. They need to know how to interact with users on different platforms. 

Once more, becoming well-known can be difficult because the abilities and characteristics of a famous TikTok influencer might not transfer well to other networks. It means draining all their hard work on TikTok.

Startups

Startups will no longer have access to a sizable and influential audience that is absent or less active on other platforms. Because of its unique features and user behavior, TikTok is a unique and valuable medium for reaching younger and more diversified audiences.

TikTok reports that more than 5 million U.S. companies are using the app. GoBankRate estimates that a complete ban might cost the U.S. economy $6.8 billion when accounting for the platform’s organic traffic and ad revenue.

Source [CNBC Television]

Have There Been Any Responses From TikTok So Far?

TikTok has denounced politicians for trying to restrict Americans, calling the bans “political theatre.”

A representative for TikTok, Brooke Oberwetter, said in a statement that “the swiftest and most thorough way to address any national security concerns about TikTok is for CFIUS to adopt the proposed agreement that we worked with them on for nearly two years.”

Separately, TikTok has been pushing for support for its proposal to the government in Washington, DC, in an unusual effort to win over allies.

Are There Countries That Have Already Banned TikTok?

Yes, there are a lot of countries that have announced a TikTok ban for their citizens. Each country had a different ground for banning the ban. TikTok’s video content was taken as an increment in violence, hate speeches, and risky challenges that raised concerns for everyone. 

TikTok’s ban was also necessary as the usage of private data became a call for national security. The app may no longer come as entertainment for the audiences of these countries. Montana is the first state a TikTok ban happened so far in the countries mentioned below: 

• India 
• Iran 
• Pakistan 
• Bangladesh 
• Estonia 

Does TikTok Collect The Personal Data Of Their Users?

One topic of controversy is TikTok’s recommendation engine’s security. It analyzes behavioral data to determine users’ interests and show relevant content to them. TikTok uses a variety of data for this, some of which include:

• The basic login details are the name, age, phone number, and email address
• If a user likes a video
• Duration of a user’s visit to a page
• If someone shares a video
• When a viewer swipes out of a video
• If someone leaves a video comment
• Location-related information
• Internet Protocol address
• Biometric information

The whole set of TikTok’s data-gathering procedures may be found on its privacy policy website.

Why A Total TikTok Ban Is Unlikely?

Regarding TikTok’s future, brands shouldn’t give up easily. Legal experts and critics say a more comprehensive TikTok ban on personal devices seems improbable.

Here are some reasons why a national ban is unlikely to occur.

Read More:

• Is TikTok Appropriate for 10-Year-Olds? (Short Answer…No)
• Is TikTok All Video Necessary Or Not in 2024?

What Are The Challenges Of Banning TikTok? 

It would be tangled up, to start. As NPR pointed out, a complete prohibition would be improbable and driven mainly by political considerations. Legal experts state that “banning a communication platform would raise First Amendment concerns.”

The challenges that any country can face in banning TikTok are as follows:

#1. Suppressing the Voice of Youth

In an interview with CBS, public policy scholar Milton Mueller puts it best: “There’s a 90% probability that it would be found unconstitutional. The 150 million American users of TikTok would be silenced if the app were banned, not the Chinese government.” That statement clearly states that by banning TikTok, the government suppresses the youth’s voice.

Users of TikTok tend to be younger. Many young voters who appreciate the app would be adversely affected if its access was banned.

#2. Affecting growth of SMBs(small and medium businesses)

A further difficulty is that many SMBs base their business strategy on the platform. Many global firms use TikTok for some of their business operations and have their profiles on the platform.

A complete ban would harm business since numerous US-based venture capitalists have stakes in TikTok. Investors and stakeholders nationwide may react negatively to a prohibition regardless of party.

#3. A threat to misuse the data

The collection and presentation of proof that TikTok threatens national security or poses a risk to users poses an additional obstacle to the app’s prohibition.

The app would have to differentiate itself from other social media pages like Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and others, which all collect user data, have security flaws and privacy concerns, and are subject to partial government regulation in the nations they operate.

The TikTok probe has sparked requests for changes to data privacy laws and rekindled a broader discussion about data protection across all social media sites.

Conclusion

Understand the truth behind the TikTok ban through every possible aspect discussed in this guide. There is still disagreement over the TikTok ban; some people are against it, and others favor it. For many people, the possible TikTok ban may have significant results.

However, our data & privacy are not subject to neglect, so it is better to be prepared for every situation with backup plans.

In the meantime, utilize Thunderclap’s services by buying TikTok followers, likes, and views that can boosThunderclapence on the platform so you can utilize it to the fullest and stay ahead of the situation.