What Happens if TikTok Is Banned in the U.S. on Jan. 19

Once the ban takes effect, will TikTok stop working?

Even if the ban goes ahead, it does not mean that TikTok will simply stop working, nor will the app be automatically deleted from your phone.

If you already have the app on your phone, you can continue scrolling and uploading content. However, the app will no longer be available for download in the US from Apple’s App Store or Google Play Store, and you will not be able to install updates, including security upgrades or bug fixes, beyond the version of the app you have as of January 18.

As ByteDance can no longer push out updates, the app will become increasingly difficult to use, if not outright unusable.

“The apps will start to decay and rot,” Internet Society technologist Joseph Lorenzo Hall told Wired“if both services stop working, things like content distribution networks or services that feel they can’t take the risks of the ambiguous nature of the language, or the potential enforcement by the incoming administration.”