The US Supreme Court heard arguments Friday on whether or not to uphold a law that effectively bans the social media app TikTok. The law was signed last year and requires the app to be sold by its Chinese parent ByteDance by January 19, and the app could be shut down in the US if the law is enforced.
“We believe the court will find TikTok’s ban unconstitutional, so the more than 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 decision for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. “Here, the government acted only to protect that freedom from an adversary foreign nation and to limit that adversary’s ability to collect data about people in the United States.”
If the court upholds the law and the company doesn’t sell the app, here’s what social media users in the US can expect on January 19.
Will I be able to download TikTok on my phone?
According to 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. This means that you will not be able to download the app to your device, and it also means that ByteDance will not be able to release updates to the app.
Will I still be able to access TikTok if I already have it?
If you already have the app downloaded on 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 will not 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 run on your device without regular updates.
Will I be able to access TikTok from a web browser?
No, the law applies to both app stores and internet providers.
How do I keep my favorite posts and videos?
TikTok allows you to download your own posts and posts from your favorite creators. Here’s how to download posts from your favorite creators before January 19th.
1. Open TikTok.
2. touch Share button on a post — it’s the arrow on the right side of your screen.
3. touch Save the video.
Here’s how to save your 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. touch Save the video.
The app will save those posts to your photo library.
Can 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,” writes CNET’s Moe Long. “If I’m in New York, USA, but tunneling through a server in London, UK, with ExpressVPN, Disney Plus thinks I’m across the pond.”
This means that a VPN can make it look like you’re accessing TikTok from London, but you’re actually in New York.
You can also 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 does not offer as comprehensive privacy protection as a VPN.
Can President-elect Trump save TikTok?
It is unclear at the moment. The law will take effect on January 19, the day before the inauguration of the president-elect. So even if Trump wants to do something about the law, it will go into effect at least for 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 find a “political solution.” At this time, Trump won’t be able to do anything about it until he takes office the day after the law goes into effect.
For more on the case you can see what was said before the Supreme Court on Friday.
