Copy article

TikTok US ban: "Ramifications of a TikTok ban in America will ripple across the world"

ended 11. January 2025

The US Supreme Court will soon decide whether to ban TikTok in the US, with the platform potentially set to “go dark” on 19 January. Newspage asked digital marketing experts for their views, and the ramifications on creators, below. 

3 responses from the Newspage community

Copy all

Star Quote
Copy

Platinum
Oli GarnettVerified
Co-Founder at Something Familiar.
The TikTok ban saga feels less like a policy decision and more like a desperate attempt to win a staring contest with a phone app. Congress is framing this as a bold stand for national security, but really, it’s like blaming the mirror for your bad hair day. ByteDance might hold user data, sure, but banning TikTok doesn’t magically solve broader issues with privacy, disinformation, or our collective screen addiction. Meanwhile, Trump’s sudden love affair with TikTok is the plot twist no one saw coming. First, it’s a threat to democracy; now, it’s helping him with the youth vote. What’s next—Snapchat gets knighted for public service? As for the users, they’ll move to Instagram or YouTube faster than you can say “algorithm.” The ban might look decisive, but in practice it’s a bit like banning pizza to fight obesity—misguided, ineffective, and guaranteed to annoy millions. If the goal is to protect democracy, maybe focus less on TikTok and more on data privacy and tech accountability.
Star Quote
Copy

Premium
Debbie PorterVerified
Managing Director at Destination Digital Marketing
The ramifications of a TikTok ban in America will ripple across the world. This wouldn’t happen overnight, but platforms like Apple and Google would be forced to remove access to the app in their App Store from 19 January, making TikTok increasingly difficult to download, and increasingly incompatible with a phone’s operating system. This slow decline would ensure the death of the app. Other countries would then review their own stance. The US case is predicated on security concerns with the platform, which has already led to a ban by many central and local government organisations in other countries. Creators who have made whole livelihoods on the platform will be throwing their arms up in grief at this extinction event. A salutary lesson in not placing all your eggs in one basket.
Copy

Editor
Kate AllenVerified
Owner at Finest Stays
TikTok isn’t just a social media app—it’s the ultimate storefront for the sofa shopper in all of us. Whether you’re lounging in your greying underpants or still in last night’s pyjama's, TikTok makes splurging effortless and addictive, fuelling the £16 billion social commerce wave predicted for 2028. By 2030, 32% of all global purchases will be via social commerce.

If the US bans it, it’s not just TikTok taking the hit; entrepreneurs who’ve built empires from viral trends and clickable content will feel the sting. However, the digital landscape is as fickle as a TikTok algorithm. Users will simply migrate to the next platform offering dopamine hits and instant shopping gratification.