Update: In further developments, The Hollywood Reporter is now saying that the ban on the popular social media app, TikTok, will be upheld by the Supreme Court. The ruling will be one of the more significant ones made in a social media era as concern has grown with the app’s data collection practices, as well as their relationship with a foreign adversary. The justices wrote in their ruling, “There is no doubt that, for more than 170 million Americans, TikTok offers a distinctive and expansive outlet for expression, means of engagement, and source of community. But Congress has determined that divestiture is necessary to address its well-supported national security concerns regarding TikTok’s data collection practices and relationship with a foreign adversary. For the foregoing reasons, we conclude that the challenged provisions do not violate petitioners’ First Amendment rights.”

The court writes, “For the reasons we have explained, requiring divestiture for the purpose of preventing a foreign adversary from accessing the sensitive data of 170 million U. S. TikTok users is not a subtle means of exercising a content preference. The prohibitions, TikTok-specific designation, and divestiture requirement regulate TikTok based on a content-neutral data collection interest. And TikTok has special characteristics — a foreign adversary’s ability to leverage its control over the platform to collect vast amounts of personal data from 170 million U. S. users — that justify this differential treatment.”

Original article: Tick tock, TikTok. We’re now on the verge of the end of an era, as TikTok could be seeing its availability in the U.S. cut off as soon as this weekend. The ban on TikTok has been looming for a while now, as the U.S. House of Representatives approved a bill last March that essentially said that if the social media platform’s owner, the Chinese-owned ByteDance, didn’t sell.

The deadline, which hits on Sunday, will affect American TikTok users, which some reports have numbered upwards of 170 million – that’s a little more than 10% of global subscribers.

And while the ban itself has made headlines, it’s also the potential sale that has garnered a lot of attention, with everybody from Elon Musk to MrBeast have toyed with the idea of purchasing TikTok…further demonstrating that billionaires have no idea how to use their wealth to benefit the greater good. Anything could happen but at this point, all things are pointing to a full-blown TikTok shutdown in the States. And to think, Bob Dylan just got an account!

Assuming the TikTok ban goes through, you will no longer be able to download it from app stores. Not everything is set in stone, but some reports suggest that those who open the already-installed app will get a message that they no longer have access.

So what does this change? Well, the term “TikTok Trend” will become obsolete for one. But that doesn’t mean similar trends won’t flourish, as you can just as easily get similar content through means such as Instagram Reels, YouTube Shorts and RedNote, which saw a huge bump in subscribers amid the TikTok ban news. In other words, it’ll just be replaced or continued on through another means. Whatever it is or whatever they are, if we can just get our Martin Scorsese fix, we’ll be happy.

TikTok is currently banned in several countries, including India, Afghanistan and Kyrgyzstan. So, will the United States be joining in this weekend?

How would a TikTok ban in the United States affect you? Will it truly have an impact on social media? Give us your thoughts on the matter in the comments section below.

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