The looming TikTok ban in the United States is creating challenges for technological companies and sparking creative workarounds from users.
If enforced, companies like Apple and Google would need to comply by blocking the app from their stores and ensuring users cannot access it, a move fraught with technical and legal complications.
Users are exploring methods such as using VPNs to appear in countries where TikTok is allowed, sideloading the app outside official stores, or accessing it via web browsers.
For tech giants, failure to enforce the restrictions could result in significant penalties, while overly aggressive enforcement could alienate users and spark public backlash.
While some creators admit that these workarounds might fail, many remain hopeful—or even desperate—to retain access to TikTok. For them, the stakes are high: the platform serves as a vital connection to their followers and is used “almost constantly” by nearly one in five American teens.
Losing TikTok could mean losing a significant source of influence, income, and community.
““If it gets banned, they will take it off the Play Store, they will take it off the App Store and they may ban the servers, but hypothetically, those are easy to work around,” a TikToker named Nicholas, who uses the handle @metaphysicalmister, told his 11,000 followers in a recent viral video watched almost 300,000 times. “This app is not going anywhere.”
These how-to videos have collectively garnered millions of views, with some of the most popular ones resurfacing from earlier moments of uncertainty for TikTok. Similar content circulated during the app’s potential ban under former President Donald Trump in 2020 and when TikTok CEO Shou Chew testified before Congress for the first time in 2023.
““I don’t think the US government understands that, like, if they ban TikTok, we’re still going to use it,” said one young TikToker named Michaela, who uses the handle @cuddleswopuddles, who posted a video in 2023 that has now been watched 2 million times. Millennials, Gen Z and older Gen Alphas grew up spending time online and learning to code, Michaela added, making them tech savvy enough to keep the app alive. “They will figure it out,” she said.
TikTok, Apple, Google, and Oracle declined to comment on the situation.
