How to Prepare for the Potential TikTok Ban
What Is It?
TikTok, owned by the Chinese company ByteDance, is facing a potential ban in the United States due to national security concerns. The U.S. government argues that Chinese control over TikTok poses risks of espionage and disinformation.
In April 2024, President Biden signed the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act, which requires ByteDance to divest TikTok's U.S. operations by January 19, 2025, or face a ban.
TikTok has challenged this law, citing First Amendment violations, but a federal appeals court upheld the legislation. The Supreme Court is scheduled to hear arguments on the case tomorrow.
President-elect Donald Trump has expressed a desire to delay the ban, seeking time to negotiate a resolution upon taking office.
If the ban proceeds, TikTok will be removed from U.S. app stores by January 19, severely limiting new downloads and updates.
The U.S. Supreme Court is set to hear arguments Friday, January 10 regarding the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act. It’s speculated the court could make their decision within days. This law mandates that ByteDance, TikTok's Chinese parent company, divest its U.S. operations by January 19, 2025, or face a nationwide ban.
What Would Happen Immediately?
TikTok’s 170 million users in the U.S. will likely still be able to use the app because it is already downloaded on their phones, experts say. But over time, without software and security updates, the app will become unusable.
How Should Brands Prepare for a Potential Ban?
Download your TikTok content: Ensure you have backups of all your TikTok videos and related data to repurpose them on other platforms.
Diversify Your Social Presence: Establish a presence on multiple platforms like Instagram, YouTube, and Snapchat to avoid over-reliance on a single channel.
Guide Your Social Audience to Other Platforms: Post content directing your TikTok audience to follow you on other platforms. Focus on one key platform, like Instagram or YouTube, to maintain audience retention.
Update your Link In Bio: Ensure your link-in-bio directs followers to your other active platforms for continued engagement.
Review Partnership Contracts That Include TikTok: Revisit influencer and brand partnership agreements to assess the impact of a TikTok ban and consider alternative platforms for campaigns.
What Can We Expect If the Ban Happens?
Increased user migration & engagement on Instagram: Expect a surge of TikTok users moving to Instagram, YouTube and other video platforms, increasing platform activity.
Potentially more expensive ad budgets: With increased demand for ad space on Instagram, advertising costs could rise significantly.
Younger users on Instagram: The influx of younger TikTok users may alter audience demographics, potentially requiring shifts in content strategy.
A surge in creators pushing new trends and content styles: The creative influx could lead to rapid changes in content norms and trends.
Video will become more important than ever on Instagram: With more video creators joining Instagram, video content will dominate the platform, requiring brands to adapt their strategies accordingly.
Focus on Community Management: Authentic and meaningful community management will be critical for both community engagement and growth as platforms become more crowded with content. An increase in personalized interactions may impact automated response platforms, such as Gatsby.