If TikTok's US ban goes through on Sunday, even sideloading might not work

Summary

• A new report indicates that TikTok will fully cease operation in the US on January 19th if the ban goes into effect. This goes beyond simply being removed from app stores, as previously thought.
• TikTok plans to display a popup explaining the situation and effectively disable the app's functionality for US users.
• The only remaining hopes for TikTok are a successful Supreme Court appeal or a last-minute buyer, neither of which are considered likely.

A bill signed into law last year mandates that TikTok owner ByteDance must either sell the app or cease operations in the US by January 19, 2025. ByteDance has not managed to divest itself in the nine months that have followed, so barring a Hail Mary Supreme Court appeal or an even more farfetched scenario where a billionaire swoops in to buy the app at the last minute, TikTok will shut down this Sunday.

Now, a report says that the shutdown will be even more of a complete break than we thought.

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According to information obtained by Reuters, if the ban goes into effect, TikTok will immediately begin showing users a popup with a link to a website explaining the situation, effectively shutting down the entire app (via The Verge).

This takes things a step further than what most people expected, which was that ByteDance would remove TikTok from Google's Play Store and Apple's App Store. So, where it was previously believed that sideloading the app would provide a way for users to get around the ban, it now appears the app won't be functional at all in the US.

Source: Pexels

Last week, a TikTok attorney explained the previous assumption that this ban would simply mandate TikTok's removal from popular app stores was likely off the mark. “On January 19, as I understand it, we shut down,” said the lawyer, adding “what the act says is that all of the other types of service providers can’t provide service either. So essentially, what they’re going to say is that, I think, ‘we’re not going to be providing the services necessary to have you see it.’ So it’s essentially going to stop operating. I think that’s the consequence of this law.”

Working under that interpretation, it now appears that ByteDance will make TikTok completely unavailable in the US if the ban is enacted.

There aren't many lifelines left for TikTok

As it stands, there are only two ways TikTok could avoid this ban, but neither are thought to be likely. In late December, the Supreme Court agreed to hear TikTok's appeal of the ban with only days left to spare. That hearing occurred last week, and from reports, it seems the Supreme Court is inclined to uphold the ban.

The other possibility is that another party could buy TikTok before the deadline. The US views ByteDance's connections to the Chinese government as a threat and has said that selling the app to another party could satisfy its concerns. One report earlier in the week suggested that Elon Musk could be a potential buyer, but TikTok itself called the rumor "pure fiction."

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