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TikTok Ban Still Alive and 2 Months Away

I’m a casual TikToker, but some of my fellow family members appear to be addicted to the app. They’ll sit on the couch, face in their phone, blurting out some…

TikTok logo displayed on a phone screen is seen through the broken glass

TikTok logo displayed on a phone screen is seen through the broken glass in this illustration photo, April 24, 2024.

(Photo by Jakub Porzycki/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

I’m a casual TikToker, but some of my fellow family members appear to be addicted to the app. They’ll sit on the couch, face in their phone, blurting out some major OMGs or simply bursting with laughter. Millions of people do that same thing every day.

Now, we’re a little bit closer to having to make the switch to Instagram or Facebook reels. That’s because we just learned that three judges on a federal appeals court said “no” to TikTok’s request to deny the signed law that would require TikTok to sell or be banned completely.

ByteDance, the China-based company that owns TikTok has been under attack by American lawmakers saying the app is detrimental and harmful. The bill was signed in April and was designed to force the company's app to be removed from the United States unless they sell it to an American-owned company.

The primary concern of our government is national security, they feel that ByteDance has the ability and likelihood to share all of their American users’, about a hundred and seventy million of us, personal information and data with the government in China.

Even though TikTok claimed the law violates freedom of speech, the court rejected the argument and the possible ban is still on the table and is just over two months away from going into effect on January 19th next year. That’s just one day before the presidential inauguration.

The banning of TikTok was attempted with an executive order about five years ago, but some feel that the app should not be canceled because that would benefit Facebook.

TikTok Options to Avoid Approaching Ban

It’s pretty simple, sell or continue the fight. It’s not likely that ByteDance is going to sell the app. It’s estimated to be worth more than two hundred billion dollars and they claim that the Chinese government would not allow them to sell it because it’s the country’s most successful app.

They say they’re going to continue the fight and appeal the ruling that keeps the law in effect, for now.

Joel KatzWriter
Joel Katz is the Morning Show Personality, Assistant Program Director, Podcast Host, Voiceover artist, audio producer, and Digital Content Writer for Magic 98.3. Joel has been working in New Jersey radio since college and started at Magic in 2002 as the Morning Show Host, “I can’t think of another place where I’d fit more perfectly; it’s just a great company with awesome people.” Joel is married to Kathleen, his elementary school sweetheart (they were each other’s first dates at age 9), shares a birthday with his oldest son, Ty, and has twins, Kiera and Liam. Joel runs at least 3.1 miles every day and enjoys playing basketball, doing laundry, saving his turn signal for when he really needs it, kissing dogs through a fence, using coasters, making that cool noise by rubbing his fingers on balloons, and chasing after ping pong balls on a windy cruise ship.