TikTok’s Digital Creators Working on US Version of Almost-Banned App

Welcome to the #ForUSPage. TikTok is working on a US version of its app ahead of its scheduled ban or sale, The Information reports. The new app is expected to go live in early September, two weeks before the Department of Justice plans to boot the Beijing-hailing app from stores if it isn’t first sold to a US-based buyer. 

Even after TikTok is kicked off app stores, the current app will keep working for US users until March. At that point, users would have to download the US version to access their daily digest of feng shui advice videos. But migrating TikTok’s 170 million US users to a new app won’t be as easy as slowing down a room’s energy with an area rug.

#GRWM While You Can

The US government has been procrastinating about enforcing TikTok’s ban-or-sale deadline since last April, when then-President Joe Biden signed legislation targeting the Beijing-based parent company of TikTok, ByteDance. 

Granted, there were detours in the road to booting the app, despite the government’s concerns about the app’s ties to China:

• ByteDance and, separately, TikTok creators sued the US, arguing the app’s ban or forced sale would constitute a free speech violation. The Supreme Court disagreed, and the app was taken down for about 12 hours in January.
• POTUS Trump swooped in to push back the ban or sale by 75 days. When that time was up, he pushed it back two more times. But with the third deadline looming, TikTok’s fate still isn’t clear. 

Now, Trump says a group is closing in on a deal to buy TikTok’s US arm and his administration will start talking it over with Chinese authorities this week.  

52-Part #Storytime: It’s still unclear when regulators and users will find out how the TikTok drama ends. ByteDance has said previously that it won’t sell TikTok to anyone. Though a US version of the app might allow it to remain under ByteDance’s umbrella, The Information reports that the technical and practical hurdles to building it are high. Plus, it’s unclear whether US regulators will still see the new app as a national security threat that needs to be nixed. Other apps made by ByteDance, including Lemon8 and CapCut (which Business Insider reported is also getting a US version), could get the same scrutiny.