Here’s What You Need to Know if TikTok Does Get Banned in the US

The US Supreme Court heard arguments Friday about whether or not to uphold a law that effectively bans the social media app TikTok. The law was signed last year and calls for the app to be sold by its Chinese parent company ByteDance by Jan. 19, and the app could be shut down in the US if the law is upheld.

“We believe the court will find the TikTok ban unconstitutional so the over 170 million Americans on our platform can continue to exercise their free speech rights,” the company said in a December statement. 

“The First Amendment exists to protect free speech in the United States,” Senior Circuit Judge Douglas Ginsburg wrote in a December ruling for the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. “Here, the government acted solely to protect that freedom from a foreign adversary nation and to limit that adversary’s ability to gather data on people in the United States.”

If the court upholds the law and the company doesn’t sell the app, here’s what US social media users should expect on Jan. 19.

Will I be able to download TikTok to my phone?

Under the law, no. App stores run by companies like Apple and Google will have to remove the app from their stores overnight or face civil penalties. That means you won’t be able to download the app to your device, and it also means ByteDance won’t be able to issue updates to the app.

Will I still be able to access TikTok if I already have it?

If you already have the app downloaded to your device, yes. The law doesn’t make it illegal to have the app on your phone, so you can still have it.

Since app stores won’t be able to distribute updates to the app after the law goes into effect, your experience with the app may degrade over time. It’s unclear how long the app will work on your device without regular updates.

Will I be able to access TikTok from a web browser?

No, the law applies to app stores and internet providers alike. 

How do I keep my posts and videos I like?

TikTok lets you download your posts and posts from your favorite creators. Here’s how to download posts from your favorite creators before Jan. 19.

1. Open TikTok. 
2. Tap the Share button on a post — it’s the arrow on the right side of your screen.
3. Tap Save Video.

Here’s how to save your own posts.

1. Open TikTok. 
2. Go to your profile.
3. Tap a post.
4. Tap the three dots (…) on the right side of your screen.
5. Tap Save Video.

The app will save those posts to your photo library.

Could I use a VPN to access TikTok?

You could potentially use a VPN on your phone or browser to access TikTok, yes. 

“A virtual private network is a privacy tool that hides your IP address by sending your internet traffic through a remote server,” CNET’s Moe Long writes. “If I’m in New York, US, but tunneling through a London, UK, server with ExpressVPN, Disney Plus thinks I’m across the pond.”

That means a VPN could make it look like you’re accessing TikTok from London but really you’re in New York. 

You could also potentially use a proxy server to access TikTok. A proxy server, like a VPN, masks your IP address by sending your traffic through another server first. The main difference between the two is that a proxy server doesn’t offer as comprehensive privacy protections as a VPN does.

Could President-elect Trump save TikTok?

It’s unclear at this time. The law would take effect on Jan. 19, a day before the president-elect’s inauguration. So even if Trump wants to do something about the law, it’ll still go into effect for at least that one day. 

Trump’s lawyers also filed an amicus brief in the case last week asking the court to delay the ban to give Trump time to figure out a “political resolution.” At this time, Trump won’t be able to do anything in this case until he takes office a day after the law goes into effect.

For more on the case, you can check out what was said in front of the Supreme Court on Friday.