The U.S. is Banning TikTok, Right? RIGHT?! Not Exactly.

If you haven't heard, in a 362 to 65 vote, the U.S. House of Representatives has passed a bill to potentially ban TikTok if the owner can't find a U.S. buyer within 6 months.

The bill is called the "Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act" which forces ByteDance to sell their stock to avoid being banned from all app stores.

Why did this happen and what does it mean for you?

The U.S. government believes that TikTok poses a national security threat because of its ties to the Chinese government which has access to the company's data.

If you use TikTok in the U.S., you could lose access to the platform. This will most likely result in the app being deleted from app stores and the website being blocked.

Is there any way around this?

VPNs may help users regain access but this could affect their overall experience depending on what location is selected.

Remember, the ads and content you are served can be location-based, meaning that you may be served mixed results in different languages or ads for products and services you can't fully access.

What can you do in the meantime?

It's ultimately up to ByteDance. Do they sell or let the ban stand?

ByteDance could continue to operate in the U.S., but lose its control over the data to the U.S.-based buyer.

Conclusion

While this legislation seems final, the Senate still needs to pass the measure before the president can make it the law. All we can do is wait.