On Saturday, January 18th, 2025, TikTok was temporarily banned for folks in the U.S. By Sunday, January 19th, its usage was restored.
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Things have been ... crazy for marketers, to say the least. If your head has been spinning from all the shifts, that's a totally normal reaction. However, once you've had a moment to reset (which I hope you have), I would use the rest of this year to lock in and start thinking about alternatives for social media marketing strategy.
Here’s everything you need to know about where to go next as the age of short-form video takes an unexpected turn, one that has reshaped attitudes around virality, distribution, and brand-building.
Table of Contents:- TikTok Ban Timeline: A Quick Overview
- Why Was TikTok Banned To Begin With?
- What’s Next?
- So Long, TikTok (For Now?)
TikTok Ban Timeline: A Quick Overview
Let’s rewind for a second and talk about how we got here to begin with. Slowly.
I’m a massive fan of timelines for several reasons, so here’s a brief overview of when talks of a TikTok ban even began and how they eventually got us here:
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- October 2019: U.S. politicians start to raise alarms about TikTok’s influence (check out this letter from Florida Senator Marco Rubio to the U.S. Department of Treasury), requesting a federal investigation of its Music.ly acquisition and a national security dig into TikTok.
- August 2020: Donald Trump issues an executive order banning American companies from doing business with ByteDance and any of its subsidiaries, TikTok included.
- March 2024: Joe Biden signed the “Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act” (aka an anti-TikTok law), which ultimately required TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, to sell the platform to a U.S. owner.
- December 2024: This official document issued by a federal appeals court ruled that the anti-TikTok law was constitutional, triggering the Supreme Court v. TikTok battle.
- January 10th, 2025: The U.S. Supreme Court heard TikTok’s oral arguments and, despite their testimonies, seemed pretty deadset on proceeding with the proposed ban.
- January 17th, 2025: TikTok went dark for 12 (14 for others) hours in the U.S. By the following day, January 18th, 2025, its functionality was restored.
- January 20th, 2025: President Donald Trump signed an executive order stating that the TikTok ban will be delayed for 75 days (approximately 2 months) as his administration figures out next steps for the platform's future in the U.S.
Why Was TikTok Banned To Begin With?
TikTok’s Side
During oral arguments on January 10th, 2025, TikTok’s attorney, Noel Francisco, argued that the imposed ban violates the First Amendment.
As he put it, “If the First Amendment means anything, it means the government cannot restrict speech in order to protect us from speech.”
He added, “The government has no valid interest in preventing foreign propaganda … The government's real target, rather, is the speech itself, its fear that Americans, even if fully informed, could be persuaded by Chinese misinformation. That, however, is a decision that the First Amendment leaves to the people.”
Francisco concluded: “[The ban] is also grossly under-inclusive and ignores the most obvious less restrictive alternative: simply banning TikTok, Incorporated, from sharing any sensitive user data with anyone.”
Beyond TikTok’s argument that the ban violates freedom of speech, Francisco also underlined a few other key points:
- One: They say there is no documented evidence of the Chinese government accessing user data.
- And two: The imposed timeframe is too tight for TikTok to separate from ByteDance feasibly and in a timely manner.
The Rebuttals from the Supreme Court
On that same Friday in January, U.S. justices seemed skeptical of TikTok's arguments. They questioned how First Amendment rights are being implicated when the law explicitly targets a foreign-owned company (touche).
Here’s how Chief Justice John Roberts explained it: “Congress is fine with the [freedom of] expression. They’re not fine with a foreign adversary, as they’ve determined it is, gathering all this information about the 170 million people who use TikTok.”
In other words: The justices are just fine with us embarrassing ourselves with TikTok dances, filming 10-minute-long GRWM content, and endlessly scrolling for that one 'life-changing’ pasta recipe.
What they're not fine with is the Chinese government peeking at our data while we do it.
Roberts continued to point out that Congress previously found ByteDance to be “subject to Chinese laws that require it to assist or cooperate with the Chinese government's intelligence work.”
Justice Elena Kagan also drew a parallel to the concerns over the Soviet Union in the 20th century, stating: “If Congress had said, ‘Well, it’s very nice, we can have the Communist Party U.S.A, but it has to divest, it has to completely divorce itself from the Comintern and from any international ties that it has,' do you think that that would have been absolutely fine?”
Now that we’re up to speed, I can discuss where we stand today.
What’s Next?
Alright. I’ve gone through everything top to bottom. Next, I’ll answer two of marketers' most FAQs about what's next for TikTok:
1. What happens now that the TikTok ban is delayed?
Now that TikTok has a wee bit more time left in the U.S., it will remain available to folks who have not deleted the app from their devices. However, if you happened to do this, unfortunately, you won't be able to redownload it from any app stores.
Also, although the app continues to be accessible for those who’ve already downloaded it, it will be pretty much impossible to access TikTok updates, which will eventually make the app unusable.
Also, not to be a buzzkill, but along with the not-so-small problem of app updates, comes the big problem of security measures. Without regular updates, your TikTok will become increasingly susceptible to hackers. Yikes.
2. What does this all mean for marketers?
More than likely, if TikTok goes away again, any misplaced users will turn to Instagram Reels or YouTube Shorts, which both mimic similar user behavior. However, there’s also been a ton of Gen Z-revolt buzz around folks relocating to RedNote (also known as Xiaohongshu), another Chinese-owned app that’s, as someone on my FYP described it, “TikTok, Instagram, and Depop all in one.”
Although the potential of starting anew on RedNote has seemed promising and exciting for some, other takes I’ve seen via timelines have aligned with a sentiment of being “one and done” with downloading any substitute platforms.
In short, here's the deal: the short-form video space is changing; your team will need re-evaluate how you can invest in short-term vids on other platforms.
While change can be scary, it’s important to remember — we’ll all be okay (if I could hold your hand while saying this, I would). We’ve actually survived the deaths of many social media spaces before TikTok was even a thing.
As Leanne Elliott, co-host of the Truth, Lies and Work podcast, told me: "When it comes to platforms like TikTok, it’s important to remember that people and communities are far more resilient than the apps they use. Platforms come and go. Just think of MySpace, Vine, or even the way Facebook isn’t quite what it once was."
She continued, “What stays constant is our need for connection and shared experiences. If TikTok disappears, creators and their audiences will move on together. The relationships don’t vanish; they just find a new home."
She also bets that should the TikTok space erupt again, people will shift to YouTube Shorts, Instagram, and (drum roll, please...) LinkedIn. In fact, folks are already making the switch.
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HubSpot’s State of Marketing Report shared that 14% of B2B companies will explore LinkedIn as a space to take their creator, brand, and social strategies to new heights.
Additionally, Elliott pointed out, “[LinkedIn's] crying out for fresh, creative content, especially for those looking to build a professional edge. Over the next few years, LinkedIn could become a real hot spot for B2B creators who get in now.”
It's also important to remember that TikTok has never been a major lead driver for most large-scale businesses. HubSpot’s State of Marketing Report also revealed that only 10% of B2C companies planned to invest in TikTok in 2025, while only 8% of B2B companies planned to do the same. So, while it’s been fun to hop aboard the 'Tok trends, your business likely won’t suffer too greatly from another ban.
Plus, as Louis ‘Fonzi’ Camejo, host of the Content is Profit podcast, told me: “I personally don’t mind the ban in terms of marketing. TikTok is not a channel that has added to our listenership, so we haven’t invested time or resources in it. We noticed that even though some clips have good reach, there wasn't too much interest from the user to move off the platform.”
What should I do with all of my stuff if TikTok gets banned for good?
There's no immediate answer for when (or if) things with TikTok will go south again, but here are my recommendations for preserving your content regardless of where the future takes us:
1. Download your account data.
Before it’s too late, download your account data! You can do this in a few short steps; here’s how to go about it (with screenshots):
- Go to your account’s page.
- Click the three lines in the top right corner, then press ‘Settings and Privacy.’
- From there, you’ll be brought to your ‘Settings and Privacy’ HQ. Click the very first tab under ‘Account,’ which is also called ‘Account’.
- Click the ‘Download your data’ tab.
Once you get to this area, you’ll be able to put in a request for what data you download, including your activity, direct messages, and watch history. It takes about an hour to fully process this request.
2. Post your drafts (scary, I know, but walk with me).
If you have an unshared video (or several) that you wish you could save without a watermark, post it! And if you really don’t want the rest of the world to see it, you have two fabulous options:
- Post it privately. If you choose to do this, no one else can see it.
- Post it to friends only. Share a final laugh with followers you’re mutuals with. It’ll be a fun last hoorah.
Once you’ve done this, you should be able to save this video to your camera roll without the pesky TikTok watermark that appears over most videos. I find this hack perfect for repurposing the same content on other platforms. Hopefully, with this hack, you can do the same when the time comes.
3. If you’re an avid TikTok Shop purchaser, download your receipts.
If you’re anything like me, you may or may not have a TikTok Shop addiction (we listen and we don't judge). To ensure that you can either a) get a refund if certain businesses choose not to continue their sales on another platform or b) follow up about your order with a business if TikTok gets formally shut down, download all of your receipts. Here’s a step-by-step tutorial on how to do that:
- Go to your account’s page, then click ‘Your Orders.’
- You’ll be redirected to your TikTok Shop homepage; you should be able to see any recent orders at the very top.
- Click an order, then press ‘Order Info’ to expand information about your order.
- Press the ‘Download the receipt’ button to receive an image copy of your order (that downloads straight to your camera roll).
4. Tell your followers where to find you.
TikTok's future remains uncertain, so tell your followers where you’ll be and where they can find your content in the event that it does get permanently removed. Wherever you go next, you want to ensure any loyal customers and brand fans can quickly and easily get to you.
TikTok's Back ... For Now
Although TikTok is temporarily "back," it’s fair to say that things are still lingering in a gray area.
However, regardless of what happens to this cultural phenomenon, there’s still plenty to look forward to. IYKYK: Creativity doesn’t fade with a platform; it evolves, finding new ways to flourish and thrive. Whether it’s migrating to a different app, building on ideas sparked by TikTok, or simply holding on to the fun memories, the spirit of the platform will live on in its users.
So, here’s to the countless laughs, unforgettable moments, and creative chaos that made TikTok the internet’s happy place. The curtain may be closing, but the show will surely go on.
The 2024 Instagram Engagement Data Report
New data to help you shape your Instagram strategy
- Optimized content types
- Influencer marketing
- Posting volume
- And more!
Download Free
All fields are required.