TikTok IS Still Banned in the US

January 20, 2025

Yesterday I wrote an article about TikTok getting banned then unbanned in the US. However, it turns out there is some more context that I should include, so I am writing a follow up article.

It turns out that TikTok is still banned in the United States. However, the whole "shutdown" thing 2 nights ago that happened was basically scripted.

The ban required that TikTok be removed from the App Store and Google Play stores, as well as limiting some features. TikTok decided to make the decision to shutdown on their own, and included a shoutout to Trump basically as "propaganda". Remember, this happened before Trump became president, so there really wasn't anything he could do yet.

If you try to download TikTok, or any other Bytedance owned apps, you will see an error saying they aren't available in your region. You can still access the website, and if you have the app you can continue to use it. However, you won't get new updates, and if you delete it, you cannot get it back. You can still install the app through .apk or .ipa files.

Some people are saying that you also cannot watch livestreams and there are currently no ads, but I am not having that same experience. Everything about the app is currently completely normal. People are theorizing that Meta purchased TikTok, but there is currently no evidence of that.