Both the Apple App Store and Google Play Store have been placed on standby. ISPs across the US are poised to modify DNS servers and/or reconfigure networks country-wide. VPN providers are practically salivating.
The deportation of TikTok from the world’s richest economy is closing in.
By the end of this week, the world will know whether TikTok has been outlawed from the US, or if parent company ByteDance has pulled off a last-gasp magic trick by either selling the US division to a non-Chinese company, or has somehow found a legal loophole that extends the January 19 deadline.
At this stage, the odds are stacked heavily against any escape from extradition.
The wheels are in motion for TikTok’s final dance in the US, and consumers have reacted accordingly by flocking to an alternative Chinese short-form video app called Xiaohongshu (Rednote in English).
While Rednote’s 300 million users pales in comparison to TikTok’s billion-plus global audience, the app has surged in popularity amid the US’s bipartisan bill to banish TikTok due to national security concerns.
By this time next week, Rednote will inherit a sizable swathe of the 170 million US citizens which use TikTok—raising a brand-new problem weeks ahead of President Trump’s inauguration. Various cybersecurity experts have come forward to warn about Rednote’s risky privacy policies.
One such expert at NordVPN, Adrianus Warmenhoven, comments: “Like TikTok, RedNote is subject to Chinese data laws, which may grant government authorities access to user data without the privacy protections expected in the US.”
“The platform collects extensive personal data, including location, browsing activity, and device-specific information like IP addresses. It can also share this data with third-party service providers or government authorities, raising concerns about user privacy.”
“Beyond privacy, there are concerns about content censorship. RedNote’s content moderation policies may align with Chinese government standards, potentially stifling free speech and exposing users to biased information,” adds Warmenhoven.
Of course, the point here is to promote the NordVPN to limit IP address tracking.
In the post-TikTok fallout, VPNs and proxies will not only be used by ex-Tokers to safely access alternatives like Rednote, but also to bypass the TikTok block in web browsers, by encrypting traffic and routing it through alternative servers.
ISPs can circumvent VPNs to an extent by blocking IPs associated with a CDN, but the caveat is that this can inadvertently disrupt access to other unrelated websites or services.
ISPs going down this route will need to tread carefully to avoid subscriber backlash.
In the final court appearance before D-day, TikTok’s bevy of lawyers rallied a case for how banning a hugely popular app would be a violation of free speech, and therefore a smear on the First Amendment.
Chief Justice John Roberts, speaking at the Supreme Court, gave a blunt response—imploring that content isn’t the problem, but simply that Congress demands an end to Chinese control over TikTok in the US.
“Congress doesn’t care about what’s on TikTok. They don’t care about the expression—that’s shown by the remedy,” stated Roberts.
Certainly the recent launch of AI-powered bot accounts on Facebook and Instagram will have fueled concerns over national security, and the timing is suspicious. These AI accounts will exist like human profiles and are part of Meta’s wider efforts to integrate generative AI into its platforms, including the new AI Studio tool for creating AI characters.
Is it naïve of Congress to trust these AI-driven social media bots, but to believe that TikTok’s Chinese owners are harvesting data from user-generated content to generate a hybrid commercial threat to US national security?
Perhaps, but the fact that no middle ground has been found suggests that a divorce is the best answer, after many years of legal loggerheads between the US government and TikTok.
Congress, which banned all House of Representatives staffers from using any ByteDance apps from July 2024, is worried that TikTok’s aggressive data harvesting will be used to build up ghost profiles used for spying, blackmail, and manipulation of young citizens which in the future will hold positions of influence and power.
As highlighted in Faultline during our December coverage of the TikTok saga, we saw a crumb of hope for TikTok in the form of a clause that could trigger a one-year extension to allow ByteDance time to find a buyer. However, the anti-TikTok camp have been lobbying hard to ensure that ByteDance cannot engage this extension to its advantage—and time is almost up.