Time on TikTok Death Clock Running Out
We’re as close as ever to a complete TikTok ban and shutdown, but what does it mean?
We all know someone who is obsessed with TikTok, if it’s not you then it’s someone close to you, or both. One person I know who spends a great deal of time scrolling on the app is my wife. She’s not watching TV or streaming Netflix, she’s literally laughing out loud for hours at video after video. She’s also got her list of favorite social media influencers that she’s devoted to.
There’s nothing wrong with that, but I wonder what she and millions of others will do when and if it’s removed from the country.
TikTok Date with Death is Looming
Next Sunday, January 19th is the day that the Federal law says it has to go unless its owner, based in China, sells the app to an American-based company.
The Supreme Court recently took another step closer to holding up that law leaving us all wondering if this is actually going to happen.
Many wonder if we can still use the app, and you’ll be happy to know that using it is not illegal. If it gets banned then no one knows for sure what exactly is going to happen. However, when TikTok was banned in India in 2020 it simply disappeared.
One of the things that will happen is that the app stores will no longer be able to offer it so if it’s not on your phone already you won’t be able to get it.
Over one hundred seventy million people in America already have it and won’t be able to get updates. The companies who provide the software updates will be forced to pay huge fines if they do so.
If you continue to use it after the ban it will become virtually unusable by freezing, moving extremely slowly, and basically not fun anymore. It will be similar to when you use an old laptop to access the internet, it will take a long time to view videos if they even play at all. Eventually, it will become completely obsolete.
Are There Ways Around the TikTok Ban?
There are some things you can do to continue enjoying it after the ban. One way being suggested is using the web to go to the TikTok website, however, it will be a bare-bones version so your experience will not be the same at all. There are other workarounds, but you’d be much more susceptible to being hacked.
Politicians are claiming they can save the app, and are asking to push back the date of the ban. This will give them more time to help negotiate a sale of the app, but there’s no way of knowing how long that could take.
Another possibility is that the government will allow the ban, but not enforce the law. Whatever happens, we should find out within the next week.
One thing I know will happen if TikTok is erased from our lives, my wife’s cute and fun laugh will be heard less in our house, and less laughter is never a good thing.