SCHOOL STAFF. NOW, A 12 NEWS EXCLUSIVE, VICE PRESIDENT KAMALA HARRIS IN WISCONSIN TALKING ABOUT THE POTENTIAL TIKTOK BAN. THE VICE PRESIDENT TALKING EXCLUSIVELY WITH 12 NEWS POLITICAL DIRECTOR MATT SMITH IN LA CROSSE AS SHE STUMPS IN THE SWING STATE. AND MATT, THE TIKTOK BILL MOVING THROUGH CONGRESS TONIGHT. YEAH, JOEY SAYS PART OF THIS MASSIVE FOREIGN AID BILL THAT PASSED THE HOUSE ON SATURDAY NOW POISED TO PASS THE SENATE THIS WEEK, INCLUDED IN IT THAT POTENTIAL BAN ON TIKTOK IF ITS CHINESE OWNER DOESN’T DIVEST VICE PRESIDENT KAMALA HARRIS HERE IN LA CROSSE TODAY, HER THIRD STOP TO THE KEY SWING STATE THIS YEAR ALONE, TWO EVENTS FOR THE VICE PRESIDENT TALKING TO HEALTH CARE AND NOTABLY, ABORTION. TODAY, MORE DIRECTLY GOING AFTER FORMER PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP ON THE ISSUE. ALL THIS TONIGHT AS THE SENATE NOW PREPARING TO VOTE ON THAT MAJOR FUNDING PACKAGE FOR ISRAEL AND UKRAINE, AND THAT TIKTOK PROVISION, WE’RE SEEING MORE ACTION IN CONGRESS, THE FOREIGN AID BILL PASSING THE HOUSE, THE SENATE NEXT. I’M ASSUMING THE PRESIDENT STILL WILL SIGN IT AS AS HE’S INDICATED. YES, ABSOLUTELY. A PROVISION IN THERE INVOLVES TIKTOK AND WOULD BAN THE APP IF BYTEDANCE DOESN’T DIVEST WITHIN A YEAR. I’M CURIOUS, ARE YOU COMFORTABLE BEING THE ADMINISTRATION THAT SIGNS LEGISLATION INTO LAW THAT COULD POTENTIALLY BAN TIKTOK? WELL, LET ME BE VERY CLEAR. WE DO NOT WANT TO BAN TIKTOK, AND THAT IS NOT OUR INTENTION AT ALL. WE’RE NOT TRYING TO BAN TIKTOK. WE’RE BASICALLY SAYING WE GOT TO PAY ATTENTION TO WHO THE OWNER OF TIKTOK IS AND PAY ATTENTION TO WHAT THAT PRESENTS IN TERMS OF NATIONAL SECURITY ISSUES, WE DO NOT WANT TO BAN TIKTOK AT ALL. AND MATT UNDERSCORING THE IMPORTANCE OF WISCONSIN AS A SWING STATE, YOU MENTIONED THIS IS THE VICE PRESIDENT’S THIRD STOP IN WISCONSIN THIS YEAR ALONE, AHEAD OF NOVEMBER. YEAH, JOE, WE SAY NOTABLY HER FIRST STOP IN WESTERN WISCONSIN, FORMER PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP WON THIS AREA IN 2020. HE’S OVER PERFORMING HERE IN THE WESTERN PART OF THE STATE. AND THE POLLS NOW AHEAD OF 2024, THE VICE PRESIDENT’S FOCUS ON ABORTION TODAY CRITICAL AND POINTED FOR THE CAMPAIGN DANE LOOKING AND NEEDING TO REACH DEMOCRATIC AND INDEPENDENT
US banning TikTok? Your key questions answered
Updated: 4:19 AM CDT Apr 24, 2024
No, TikTok will not suddenly disappear from your phone. Nor will you go to jail if you continue using it after it is banned.After years of attempts to ban the Chinese-owned app, including by former President Donald Trump, a measure to outlaw the popular video-sharing app has won congressional approval and is on its way to President Biden for his signature. The measure gives Beijing-based parent company ByteDance nine months to sell the company, with a possible additional three months if a sale is in progress. If it doesn’t, TikTok will be banned.So what does this mean for you, a TikTok user, or perhaps the parent of a TikTok user? Here are some key questions and answers.WHEN DOES THE BAN GO INTO EFFECT?The original proposal gave ByteDance just six months to divest from its U.S. subsidiary, negotiations lengthened it to nine. Then, if the sale is already in progress, the company will get another three months to complete it.So it would be at least a year before a ban goes into effect — but with likely court challenges, this could stretch even longer, perhaps years. TikTok has seen some success with court challenges in the past, but it has never sought to prevent federal legislation from going into effect.WHAT IF I ALREADY DOWNLOADED IT?TikTok, which is used by more than 170 million Americans, most likely won’t disappear from your phone even if an eventual ban does take effect. But it would disappear from Apple and Google’s app stores, which means users won’t be able to download it. This would also mean that TikTok wouldn’t be able to send updates, security patches and bug fixes, and over time the app would likely become unusable — not to mention a security risk.BUT SURELY THERE ARE WORKAROUNDS?Teenagers are known for circumventing parental controls and bans when it comes to social media, so dodging the U.S. government’s ban is certainly not outside the realm of possibilities. For instance, users could try to mask their location using a VPN, or virtual private network, use alternative app stores or even install a foreign SIM card into their phone.But some tech savvy is required, and it’s not clear what will and won’t work. More likely, users will migrate to another platform — such as Instagram, which has a TikTok-like feature called Reels, or YouTube, which has incorporated vertical short videos in its feed to try to compete with TikTok. Often, such videos are taken directly from TikTok itself. And popular creators are likely to be found on other platforms as well, so you’ll probably be able to see the same stuff.“The TikTok bill relies heavily on the control that Apple and Google maintain over their smartphone platforms because the bill’s primary mechanism is to direct Apple and Google to stop allowing the TikTok app on their respective app stores,” said Dean Ball, a research fellow with the Mercatus Center at George Mason University. “Such a mechanism might be much less effective in the world envisioned by many advocates of antitrust and aggressive regulation against the large tech firms.”
No, TikTok will not suddenly disappear from your phone. Nor will you go to jail if you continue using it after it is banned.
After years of attempts to ban the Chinese-owned app, including by former President Donald Trump, a measure to outlaw the popular video-sharing app has won congressional approval and is on its way to President Biden for his signature. The measure gives Beijing-based parent company ByteDance nine months to sell the company, with a possible additional three months if a sale is in progress. If it doesn’t, TikTok will be banned.
So what does this mean for you, a TikTok user, or perhaps the parent of a TikTok user? Here are some key questions and answers.
WHEN DOES THE BAN GO INTO EFFECT?
The original proposal gave ByteDance just six months to divest from its U.S. subsidiary, negotiations lengthened it to nine. Then, if the sale is already in progress, the company will get another three months to complete it.
So it would be at least a year before a ban goes into effect — but with likely court challenges, this could stretch even longer, perhaps years. TikTok has seen some success with court challenges in the past, but it has never sought to prevent federal legislation from going into effect.
WHAT IF I ALREADY DOWNLOADED IT?
TikTok, which is used by more than 170 million Americans, most likely won’t disappear from your phone even if an eventual ban does take effect. But it would disappear from Apple and Google’s app stores, which means users won’t be able to download it. This would also mean that TikTok wouldn’t be able to send updates, security patches and bug fixes, and over time the app would likely become unusable — not to mention a security risk.
BUT SURELY THERE ARE WORKAROUNDS?
Teenagers are known for circumventing parental controls and bans when it comes to social media, so dodging the U.S. government’s ban is certainly not outside the realm of possibilities. For instance, users could try to mask their location using a VPN, or virtual private network, use alternative app stores or even install a foreign SIM card into their phone.
But some tech savvy is required, and it’s not clear what will and won’t work. More likely, users will migrate to another platform — such as Instagram, which has a TikTok-like feature called Reels, or YouTube, which has incorporated vertical short videos in its feed to try to compete with TikTok. Often, such videos are taken directly from TikTok itself. And popular creators are likely to be found on other platforms as well, so you’ll probably be able to see the same stuff.
“The TikTok bill relies heavily on the control that Apple and Google maintain over their smartphone platforms because the bill’s primary mechanism is to direct Apple and Google to stop allowing the TikTok app on their respective app stores,” said Dean Ball, a research fellow with the Mercatus Center at George Mason University. “Such a mechanism might be much less effective in the world envisioned by many advocates of antitrust and aggressive regulation against the large tech firms.”
