On a technical level, how is TikTok being blocked/banned in the US?
Can I still sideload the app to my phone? Is it only being banned from the two big app stores? Is there a penalty for being found in possession of the software on US soil?
This is how.
No app store download and no hosting in the u.s. Even if they weren’t blocking u s. Users the amount of video traffic suddenly hitting their servers outside the country would cripple their infrastructure and seriously hinder other Internet traffic. Since net neutrality doesn’t exist anymore, ISPs can be paid to block it or seriously cripple it.
Still totally legal to install the app and access the content. However the same content will be reposted to other platforms which will be a great passive revenue stream for someone.
Don’t worry, trump will just cancel that whole shit
I believe I read that the ban prohibited new downloads but wouldn’t stop existing users from continuing to use, however the parent company kinda put a middle finger up and said they would stop service in the US completely, probably by IP/geofencing? Take with grain of salt.
Yeah. ByteDance, the owners, are choosing to block US users to kick up the maximum fuss possible. From my understanding they didn’t need to, they just risked withering away because there would be no new users.
That sounds like self harm
They know that Trump will make a fuss about it next week and release the ban, blaming the Dems, so that people forget the China tariffs he has been talking all campaign.
Trump is so predictable that these totalitarian governments play him like a fiddle.
Yeah, they won’t geofence. Still money to be made from existing US users. And no one puts principles above profits.
Governments do.
Hmm. I’m gonna install it then never use it again lol
Afaik you should still be able to sideload it and use the service with a VPN
So are American ISPs being forced to block TikTok’s server’s IPs?
afaik the legislation doesn’t include active blocking of a qualifying service’s (which includes tiktok by name, but is not limited to only it or bytedance) traffic…
it only prohibits the distribution of their ‘apps’ (such as via google/apple ‘stores’)–this is the part that does most the heavy lifting, and hosting of their services within the u.s.
It will probably be removed from DNS (and appstores). Google IANA , and DNS if you want to know more.
PS Ofc the company itself will stop its services. It’s not like they want beef with a whole country (any, not just US).
Unlikely
No, US is not blocking it (there isn’t even infrastructure in place for such a request, we don’t have a “Great Firewall of China”)
However, the VPN is required because reportedly TikTok themselves will stop allowing US based users to see content which is above and beyond what the law calls for
The firewall is the 3 megacorps that own all other ISPs. It just takes a phone call.
No
I dont think any ISP will be forced to given that both the current and next WH have said they won’t enforce a ban. If it goes dark, it’ll be TikTok themselves blocking access
Edit: called it
No
I believe Google and Apple are to be fined if they don’t remove the app from their stores.
We don’t have the ability to nationally block the domains and IPs, so current users will still be able to access it. So you shouldn’t need a VPN.
Android users could side load the app if they want.
What is sideloading?
On Android you can download apps (.APK files) from the web, and install them without any app store.
Oh gotcha I’ve done that before just didn’t know the term. Thanks!
Downloading the APK.
Its a silly term to say installing from any app store that Google doesn’t control
Not quite. You don’t need any app store at all.
You literally download an APK file from a website or anywhere, then install it directly. Could even be a friend with a thumb drive. Doesn’t matter how you get it, it’s just a file.Yeah. Dont do that. Its how you install viruses.
Install through another app store like fdroid. Its the secure way to get APKs
That’s got nothing to do with what sideloading means.
And the risks are very overblown.
While it’s possible, it’s extremely rare.Mostly because the potent target pool is so small. Bigger potentials for bad guys if they trick app stores into approving trojan horse apps, because everyone thinks app stores are safer.
We don’t have the ability to nationally block the domains and IPs
I disagree. It may be able to circumvent it, but US ISPs could configure their DNS servers to not resolve the domains and their routers to drop packages from and to these IPs. It will affect everyone who uses their ISPs default config for DNS and not uses VPN/Tor, which is a lot of people.
The question is: Is there a legal procedure to do that? For malware they are sometimes doing things like that (seizing botnet control domains etc), but tiktok isn’t officially malware, AFAIK.
This isn’t North Korea.
Even China and Russia can’t fully block things.
Our networks aren’t nearly as controlled as theirs.
Public DNS servers hosted in the US will get notified to delist the domain or direct it to an alternate IP. ISPs will get notified to route IP traffic elsewhere.
Didn’t know that
To be fair, it wouldn’t be every ISP that would reroute, just backbone ones. Their routing tables would filter down to regional and last mile networks.
Is it blocked at all? Biden said he wouldn’t enforce it yet.
he wouldn’t be able to, anyway.
the deadline is the sunday the 19th. monday the 20th is mlk day (federal holiday, courthouses closed. ag couldn’t file proceedings to enforce the legislation) and the last morning of the biden administration. diaperking is then in charge. even though it was his idea to begin with, he’s flopped on the issue.
I believe thar they said in the news here in Europe, that any service that distributes the tok tok app to the USA market, will be fined $5000 per download!
It will not be illegal to have but it won’t be updated in the US market and new users won’t be able to download it
The US servers are being shut off because they don’t want to risk the fines even though the current administration said they wouldn’t enforce them. TikTok will go black for us users tomorrow. I’m sure there will some way around it for those dedicated enough to find it but the average user will lose access on 1/19.
Generally the large ISP will receive an order to sinkhole the tt domains for their users. And most normal people use a modem supplied by the ISP it will use the ISP DNS server or their phones will use the mobile providers DNS servers.
It will not block a determined person but it will effectively block it for a large chunk of the US internet.
deleted by creator
With greed.
The US won’t block it, but it will be blocked. Tik Tok itself said it will turn off it’s servers and block US ips like it did with India.
https://edition.cnn.com/2025/01/17/politics/tiktok-ban-supreme-court/index.html
So it will be tik tok itself enforcing the ban. Which is hilarious. USA showed all this bravado and now has to turn around and beg tik tok to return. I fully expect in the long run tik tok will be sold to Chinese agent Elon Musk and be turned into the spy apparatus US claims it to be. The whole situation shows what a clown USA is.
Why anyone who matters care enough to beg them to come back?
How should I know? But you have Biden insisting he won’t enforce the law and Trump promising he’ll stop the ban and make sure tik tok stays. He’s even inviting their CEO to his inauguration. On the other hand it’s tik tok threatening to shutdown now if they don’t fix it sooner. It’s a strange turn of events but I have no idea why USA thinks begging is the appropriate move.
I mean seriously, if you want an answer ask the US government why all the important people like both presidents are begging. It’s not me making this decision.
Edit
Don’t take my word for it. Here’s an article by the rolling stones magazine on it and how all the important people are scrambling to save tik tok. No joke, I’d like someone to explain why all these important people care.
https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/biden-dems-tiktok-ban-1235239244/
