President Joe Biden has just signed the so-called TikTok ban into law, meaning that the popular social media app’s parent company must now sell the app or face a ban across the US,

The controversial ban of the app was passed by Congress this week, sending the measure to Mr Biden’s desk, who signed the legislation into law on Wednesday.

Despite fears that the Chinese-owned app will suddenly vanish from users’ phones, that is far from the reality of what will likely happen.

When does the ban go into effect?

At the earliest, it would probably take a year before TikTok would be banned.

Under the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act, ByteDance, TikTok’s parent company, has nine months to sell the social media app, tacking on an additional three more if a sale is under way.

But if this doesn’t happen, TikTok will be banned from US app stores.

In reality, the app would be no longer accessible in the app stores in the US, meaning it would become more difficult to download the app or receive updates.

TikTok users could probably circumvent the app’s removal from US app stores and access the app through other means, like by using a virtual private network (VPN) or using a foreign SIM card.

“The TikTok bill relies heavily on the control that Apple and Google maintain over their smartphone platforms because the bill’s primary mechanism is to direct Apple and Google to stop allowing the TikTok app on their respective app stores,” Dean Ball, a research fellow with the Mercatus Center at George Mason University, told The Associated Press.

  • plinky [he/him]
    hexbear
    115
    13 days ago

    nice contrast with expanding surveillance like two days before. being another country without your own social media is basically saying "i like that usa spies on me, they should do more of it"

    • SacredExcrement [any, comrade/them]
      hexbear
      99
      13 days ago

      I remember making this joke and we got some lemmy dipshit in here all like 'yes I don't want foreign countries spying on me'

      Like what is China gonna do if they learn about whatever weird/illegal things you do?

      Versus the country you actually live in learning about the weird/illegal things you do?

    • BeamBrain [he/him]
      hexbear
      65
      13 days ago

      People are saying this unironically on r/news and it's getting upvoted

    • LaughingLion [any, any]
      hexbear
      21
      13 days ago

      facebook already leaked all our info including our social security numbers to the world privacy is dead and has been for a decade

  • Adkml [he/him]
    hexbear
    100
    13 days ago

    Tik Tok should just refuse to sell and make their landing page a full screen banner saying "this is the top priority of American politicians right now, when was the last time you had to choose between paying rent and buying groceries, election day is November 5th."

    • radiofreeval [she/her]
      hexbear
      37
      13 days ago

      Scrap the election day part and replace it with the full text of State And Revolution

    • JoeByeThen [he/him, they/them]
      hexbear
      60
      13 days ago

      At this point, I feel like that's just part of the game for politicians. Like how much can they get away with before facing consequences.

      • JoeByeThen [he/him, they/them]
        hexbear
        56
        13 days ago

        Oh, also, Fucking Biden is a sacrificial lamb for all his fucking handlers. They're not gonna face any consequences long term for him losing, they'll just move on to a new job with all these horrible policies on their CV. That's another way him and Trump aren't so different, it's just a difference in the ideology of monsters they're more likely to acquiesce towards.

    • GVAGUY3 [he/him]
      hexbear
      59
      13 days ago

      He saw his polling kinda go up and decided to see what happens.

  • Awoo [she/her]
    hexbear
    77
    edit-2
    13 days ago

    They're out of their minds.

    The political cost of banning tiktok is so fucking high. The US relies on its "FREEEEEE SPEEEEECH" propaganda so much but every single member of genz is going to consider that complete and total bullshit if they lose access to the app in a move that has obviously been motivated by Palestine.

    We will be laughing about this blunder in years to come as a very significant mistake. The political cost of undermining one of the most important cornerstones of american propaganda is much higher than allowing tiktok to exist. They're treating this the same as the UK banning CGTN or RT but those were easy to do because only a few thousand people watched them to begin with, they had no political cost. The cost of this is one of the flagstones of the american lie with an entire generation.

    • AssortedBiscuits [they/them]
      hexbear
      17
      13 days ago

      The average Burgerlander is extremely treat-brained, so you'll definitely not alienate an entire demographic by taking away their principle treat.

    • @Joncash2@lemmy.ml
      hexbear
      9
      13 days ago

      What's more interesting to me is USA keeps whining about how China's changing the world order. Yet, their actions show that they approve of it and are running full steam in trying to implement China's new world order. Let's list what USA complains about:

      1. China's trade practices are unfair and they subsidize their companies - USA is now desperately trying to out subsidize China on chips.
      2. China censors foreign media and has no freedom of speech - USA is banning Tik Tok because it promotes China's speech
      3. China is committing genocide - USA helps Israel commit genocide

      I could go on. But what it all means to me is USA has totally given up on it's beliefs on human rights, freedom of speech and free trade. Instead it's trying to poorly imitate China. This is the conflict China wanted and USA is giving it to them on a golden platter.

      • SkingradGuard [he/him]
        hexbear
        13
        12 days ago

        But what it all means to me is USA has totally given up on it's beliefs on human rights, freedom of speech and free trade.

        It never believed in those to begin with, it's always been a cynical political propaganda tool and nothing more.

        Instead it's trying to poorly imitate China. This is the conflict China wanted and USA is giving it to them on a golden platter.

        China wants conflict? You could say that this whole cold war started when Obama banned China from the ISS, citing concerns of them "sTeaLing TeChnOloGy", yet they had no concerns over Russia doing the same?

        • @Joncash2@lemmy.ml
          hexbear
          4
          12 days ago

          I think you're misunderstanding me. Conflict is not war, two companies selling a similar product are in conflict. I don't think Google is sending a hit squad to Microsoft because of their competition.

          China clearly wants to compete with USA on multiple levels, they've been doing this since the country was reformed under communism. It's not like they even pretended anything otherwise. From Mao to Deng to Xi China has always said it will develop in it's own way and will confront any one who tries to disturb the peace of the country. Sure enough, from the moment China was reformed, USA has constantly disturbed the peace of the country. Thus, China has always known they were in conflict with the US. It's only now they're strong enough to make it clear they want to be left alone and will use their military if it comes to it.

          So yes, even though it's defensive (and I'm not saying countries shouldn't be defensive) China has wanted this conflict. They have every right to this conflict as it's literally the sovereignty of their nation, but it's still wanting conflict. One that they have a clear path to victory.

          • SkingradGuard [he/him]
            hexbear
            4
            12 days ago

            I don't think Google is sending a hit squad to Microsoft because of their competition.

            The corpo wars aren't coming? sicko-no

            So yes, even though it's defensive (and I'm not saying countries shouldn't be defensive) China has wanted this conflict. They have every right to this conflict as it's literally the sovereignty of their nation, but it's still wanting conflict.

            I guess I sorta see where you're coming from, but I would say it's more that they've been backed into a corner, no?

            • @Joncash2@lemmy.ml
              hexbear
              2
              12 days ago

              I wouldn't say China is backed in to a corner. Like I said they've been planning this for a while. If anything, this shows China's plan is working. Ironically, China's plan is pretty much freedom for all sovereign nations. But as we see with what's going on, the world is choosing the freedom China is offering.

  • joaomarrom [he/him, comrade/them]
    hexbear
    67
    13 days ago

    so unless tiktok is sold to a US-based company, it will be a bit inconvenient for US users to download the app and keep it updated

    is that all? can't these geriatric corporate-owned fucking ghouls understand how toothless this supposed ban is? lmao this is pathetic

    • RedWizard [he/him]
      hexbear
      60
      edit-2
      13 days ago

      Just wait for all the bait apps and fake blogs with tiktok APK download links. Who knows, maybe it'll filter out all the tech illiterate reactionaries. en On android it'll be easier to keep your access. On iOS it'll be almost impossible since sideloading apps is pretty hard if I recall. Tiktok should just put the most recent android apk right on their website.

      • tripartitegraph [comrade/them]
        hexbear
        41
        13 days ago

        Sideloading is a pain, but I've got this crazy cracked youtube app I use that's so much better than the standard one.

          • riseuppikmin [he/him]
            hexbear
            29
            13 days ago

            Tubular (fork of new pipe with sponsorblock and optional dearrow support) is even better

          • tripartitegraph [comrade/them]
            hexbear
            10
            13 days ago

            It's actually uYouPlus! This is a niche complaint, but the only thing it's missing (unless I'm unaware how) is being able to queue the mp3 tracks you can download in it. It'll let you sort them in a few ways, but you can't queue, so listening in my car is all over the place. If that's possible in NewPipe, then I'll switch to that.

        • EmoThugInMyPhase [he/him]
          hexbear
          31
          13 days ago

          It would be extremely funny if the EU coincidentally passed the sideloading law that forces Apple to make it available, and they decide to make all iPhones worldwide to accept sideloading and ByteDance lets you download it from their website

    • CarmineCatboy2 [he/him]
      hexbear
      50
      edit-2
      13 days ago

      This bill's original sponsors are Facebook. And however slight the inconvenience is, users can be very fickle. Even if most users stay with the platform via VPNs it can still hurt the bottom line. This means a victory for Facebook no matter what.

      As for Israel, Tiktok is hardly the only place the israelis behave like demons.

      • LaughingLion [any, any]
        hexbear
        22
        13 days ago

        the real thing is tiktok did not suppress pro palestinian messaging. we learned that from the congressional probe. they actually promoted israeli messaging to be more "fair" to them because the israeli messaging was so unpopular.

        so the israeli side wants people sypathetic to them to be in control so they can better suppress these things and control the narrative. the people behind the "ban" which is really a sale and the people who control the companies that could buy it would accomodate the israelis and aipac

        • CarmineCatboy2 [he/him]
          hexbear
          6
          edit-2
          13 days ago

          Yes, the Israel issue made it personal for US congresspeople. But the original sponsors of the ban were Facebook. Israel probably won't get to have Hasbara people to command TikTok worldwide, but Facebook's aims can still be fulfilled. However toothless the ban is, users are very fickle. They'll move to competitors that are 1% more convenient than you. And having to have a VPN or download an APK or whatever, well, that may already kill the Apple market by itself.

          And then there's the people who make money out of TikTok and create the whole social media ecosystem. Those won't get their payments through, they'll leave the platform and that will hurt the appeal of the app. And if people stream back to an American controlled platform, Israel gets what it wants anyways. Total suppression of their demonic deeds.

    • Adkml [he/him]
      hexbear
      49
      13 days ago

      If you deleted the edge shortcut from these ghouls desktop they wouldn't be able to access the internet. They think the way you take a screenshot is by finding your intern and telling them to do it. They 100% think this will stop anybody from using tik tok.

    • EmmaGoldman [she/her, comrade/them]
      hexbear
      48
      13 days ago

      Actually it likely won't even do that. On Android, it's quite easy to have your app check a server for updates on startup and download an updated APK which the user can then install with one tap. It can require the user to grant the app permission to install updates, but you can easily just tell users how to do this, send them to the right setting, and even make the button they need to press flash so they know what to hit.

      You can also make a large number of changes server side so that users don't even have to update the actual app very often.

      This would be a lot more of a punishment if it was still 2011, but all this will really do is make it harder for new users to install the app on iOS, where sideloading isn't a thing in the US.

    • @Munrock@lemmygrad.ml
      hexbear
      35
      13 days ago

      It's going to be a lot harder for the bigger US tiktok accounts to receive payments. That'll drive away US-based professional influencers, which is probably a good thing overall.

  • LibsEatPoop [any]
    hexbear
    63
    13 days ago

    TikTok has said it will fight it in courts. So let's see what happens. I don't expect them to sell, even if they lose. And if they end up getting banned in the US, I wonder what other Western countries do.

    • dkr567 [comrade/them, he/him]
      hexbear
      55
      13 days ago

      Wouldn't surprise me if the anglofascists(ie. Canada, UK and etc) follow the US for banning like they do with almost everything.

      • MolotovHalfEmpty [he/him]
        hexbear
        52
        13 days ago

        The UK will do it in a heartbeat if the Americans order it. It wasn't that long ago we were trying to ban fucking encryption until the government had months and months of beingntold by literally everyone that it was impossible and that if they found a way it would completely collapse every institution, the banks, and the economy at large.

  • meatballs12345 [he/him,they/them]
    hexbear
    59
    edit-2
    13 days ago

    Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act

    PAfACAA

    Terrible acronym, it's like they weren't even trying.

  • GnastyGnuts [he/him]
    hexbear
    58
    13 days ago

    Please just pull the app in the US, kids will start widely using VPNs just to use tiktok, it will be good for society.

  • @Munrock@lemmygrad.ml
    hexbear
    57
    13 days ago

    I love this protest sign:

    Show

    As if the US Government gives a shit about Americans' quality of life.

    • Des [she/her, they/them]
      hexbear
      14
      13 days ago

      while i don't give af about stolen valor and wish all the valor stolen: think they are just a fan of the battleship Pennsylvania specifically or battleships in general?

        • Des [she/her, they/them]
          hexbear
          4
          12 days ago

          yeah but that ship was retired in 1948

          maybe she found the navy's stockpile of adrenochrome

          • @PolandIsAStateOfMind@lemmygrad.ml
            hexbear
            2
            edit-2
            11 days ago

            Iowa is pretty crappy looking to me, the hull proportions and armament looks out of place. New Mexico and Colorado are my favourites, especially before the modernisation, with lattice masts. Lattice masts ftw.

            • Des [she/her, they/them]
              hexbear
              2
              11 days ago

              i think i just like the Iowa because i built a model when i was like 12

              i also love those weird pre-dreadnoughts with all their tiny useless casemate guns because i built the Iron Duke around the same time

                • Des [she/her, they/them]
                  hexbear
                  2
                  9 days ago

                  my grandfather put together a Hood for me but i have no idea what ever happened to it.

                  maybe it's tiny magazine exploded and it sunk with all hands

  • Mokey [none/use name]
    hexbear
    55
    13 days ago

    So wait is biden just making the cool sms app into an even cooler one by banning it?

    It kinda just seems like itll teach kids how to skirt the ban, make it more popular with ppl who want to use it and also keep libs and conservatives off it... seems like a win

  • Rom [he/him]
    hexbear
    52
    13 days ago

    I'm glad we've solved all of society's major problems so that our politicians can spend their time legislating such trivial matters.

  • makotech222 [he/him]
    hexbear
    50
    13 days ago

    damn i was wrong on this one. never thought they would sign it. lmao