What will happen if you try to go on TikTok after it ‘shuts down’ this weekend

Citizens of the United States are expected to cease using TikTok this weekend as a proposed ban comes into place.

Short-form video-sharing platform TikTok is one of the biggest entertainment apps in the US, with 102.3 million reported users in 2023, as per Statista.

Despite being one of the fastest-growing social media platforms in the country, and helping to make the likes of Charli D'Amelio and Chris Olson household names, the app is set to be banned this weekend.

Officials have described TikTok and its parent company ByteDance as ‘a national-security threat of immense depth and scale’, accusing them of having links to China.

ABC reports that US Congress has already passed the law to ban TikTok, and if the US Supreme Court doesn’t step in, then the platform will officially be shut down in the country.

Below, we’ve outlined everything you need to know, including the exact date you will have to cease using TikTok in the US.

TikTok is set to be banned in the US this weekend (Jaap Arriens/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

When is TikTok shutting down?

The Information claims that TikTok will shut down unless the Supreme Court moves to block it this weekend.

That means from Sunday (19 January), you will no longer be able to download the app from Apple, Google, or other known app stores.

The move comes months after President Joe Biden signed legislation requiring ByteDance to sell the app after it was accused of being linked to the Chinese government, the BBC reports.

What will happen to your account if the ban goes ahead?

Unfortunately, it’s not clear whether anything specific will happen to your TikTok account.

However, ExpressVPN writes that you should be able to access your creative account outside of the US, as long as you’re not in another country where the app is banned.

Moreover, the BBC predicts that your account will just stay as it is, alleging further updates for TikTok will not be made available, which would make the app buggier and, eventually, unusable.

"If you already have TikTok on your phone you can still use it, but over time you will not receive any updates, so the app will become obsolete," added Qi Liao, a professor of computer and network security at Central Michigan University.

What will TikTok look like when you access the app?

Experts have been weighing in on what the app will look like once the law comes into play (Anna Barclay/Getty Images)

Some experts have been speculating what will happen to your TikTok app if the proposed ban comes into play on 19 January.

According to the hit Instagram account IMJUSTBAIT, the For You page is expected to go ‘silent’ for US citizens and the app will become a blank, unusable screen.

Meanwhile, Timothy Edgar, a professor of cybersecurity at Brown University, thinks a message will pop up to anyone who is trying to access the platform.

"They will get a notice that says, 'This service is not available in your country'," he explained to CBS MoneyWatch.

"That's most likely what will happen based on what we've seen in other countries that have banned certain platforms.

"This generation may be in for a very rude awakening if the law goes into effect and they find a major social media platform that they came to rely on as creators, or just users, is suddenly not available."

It’s alleged people attempting to open the app will simply see a pop-up message directing them to a website with information about the ban, the report said.

TikTok alternatives to download ahead of the proposed ban

TikTokers across the United States have been on the hunt for an alternative to their favourite app, with the most popular being a Chinese app called RedNote.

The platform is known in China as Xiaohongshu - Mandarin for 'little red book' - but is more of a hybrid version of Instagram and Pinterest.

Meanwhile, mainstream alternatives such as Snapchat, Instagram, Twitch and YouTube Shorts also feature similarities to TikTok.