I believe I read that the ban prohibited new downloads but wouldn't stop existing users from continuing to use, however the parent company kinda put a middle finger up and said they would stop service in the US completely, probably by IP/geofencing? Take with grain of salt.
this post was submitted on 18 Jan 2025
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Yeah. ByteDance, the owners, are choosing to block US users to kick up the maximum fuss possible. From my understanding they didn’t need to, they just risked withering away because there would be no new users.
Yeah, they won't geofence. Still money to be made from existing US users. And no one puts principles above profits.
Governments do.
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Hmm. I'm gonna install it then never use it again lol
Afaik you should still be able to sideload it and use the service with a VPN
So are American ISPs being forced to block TikTok's server's IPs?
afaik the legislation doesn't include active blocking of a qualifying service's (which includes tiktok by name, but is not limited to only it or bytedance) traffic..
it only prohibits the distribution of their 'apps' (such as via google/apple 'stores')--this is the part that does most the heavy lifting, and hosting of their services within the u.s.
No, US is not blocking it (there isn't even infrastructure in place for such a request, we don't have a "Great Firewall of China")
However, the VPN is required because reportedly TikTok themselves will stop allowing US based users to see content which is above and beyond what the law calls for
The firewall is the 3 megacorps that own all other ISPs. It just takes a phone call.
Good thing we live a country with plenty of good honorable ISPs. Xfinity, Verizon and uhh... What's that other one that offers 10mbps for $200/m?
I dont think any ISP will be forced to given that both the current and next WH have said they won't enforce a ban. If it goes dark, it'll be TikTok themselves blocking access
Edit: called it
No
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No app store download and no hosting in the u.s. Even if they weren't blocking u s. Users the amount of video traffic suddenly hitting their servers outside the country would cripple their infrastructure and seriously hinder other Internet traffic. Since net neutrality doesn't exist anymore, ISPs can be paid to block it or seriously cripple it.
Still totally legal to install the app and access the content. However the same content will be reposted to other platforms which will be a great passive revenue stream for someone.
How can ISPs tell what app is requesting data? Doesnt it all look the same on their end?
IP address and Domain Names
Don't worry, trump will just cancel that whole shit
Is that a good or bad thing?
I feel like it's pretty irrelevant honestly.
Like if my house is burning down I don't care whether I have my blue boxers or my green boxers nor whether China knows.
I believe Google and Apple are to be fined if they don't remove the app from their stores.
We don't have the ability to nationally block the domains and IPs, so current users will still be able to access it. So you shouldn't need a VPN.
Android users could side load the app if they want.
Public DNS servers hosted in the US will get notified to delist the domain or direct it to an alternate IP. ISPs will get notified to route IP traffic elsewhere.
Source this information, because it is almost positively incorrect.
I have personal experience with backbone carriers.
Yeah, I do to. We’re not talking about theoretically blocking access to a site nation wide. We’re talking about the TikTok ban, which doesn’t stipulate any sort of network blocking, it’s just a delisting from the app stores.
The government has never required dns providers to remove records for a domain, or required ISPs to null route traffic to IPs. That’s almost certainly a First Amendment issue, and I can only imagine that such an order would be immediately challenged in court.
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What is sideloading?
On Android you can download apps (.APK files) from the web, and install them without any app store.
Oh gotcha I've done that before just didn't know the term. Thanks!
Downloading the APK.
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This is how.
Is it blocked at all? Biden said he wouldn't enforce it yet.
he wouldn't be able to, anyway.
the deadline is the sunday the 19th. monday the 20th is mlk day (federal holiday, courthouses closed. ag couldn't file proceedings to enforce the legislation) and the last morning of the biden administration. diaperking is then in charge. even though it was his idea to begin with, he's flopped on the issue.
I believe thar they said in the news here in Europe, that any service that distributes the tok tok app to the USA market, will be fined $5000 per download!
It will not be illegal to have but it won't be updated in the US market and new users won't be able to download it
The US servers are being shut off because they don’t want to risk the fines even though the current administration said they wouldn’t enforce them. TikTok will go black for us users tomorrow. I’m sure there will some way around it for those dedicated enough to find it but the average user will lose access on 1/19.
Do as all the shithole countries do. Use a VPN.
I know how to get around it. I was curious to know the level at which it was being blocked. Is it the DNS, is it some kind of firewall...etc.
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The US won't block it, but it will be blocked. Tik Tok itself said it will turn off it's servers and block US ips like it did with India.
https://edition.cnn.com/2025/01/17/politics/tiktok-ban-supreme-court/index.html
So it will be tik tok itself enforcing the ban. Which is hilarious. USA showed all this bravado and now has to turn around and beg tik tok to return. I fully expect in the long run tik tok will be sold to Chinese agent Elon Musk and be turned into the spy apparatus US claims it to be. The whole situation shows what a clown USA is.
Why anyone who matters care enough to beg them to come back?
How should I know? But you have Biden insisting he won't enforce the law and Trump promising he'll stop the ban and make sure tik tok stays. He's even inviting their CEO to his inauguration. On the other hand it's tik tok threatening to shutdown now if they don't fix it sooner. It's a strange turn of events but I have no idea why USA thinks begging is the appropriate move.
I mean seriously, if you want an answer ask the US government why all the important people like both presidents are begging. It's not me making this decision.
Edit
Don't take my word for it. Here's an article by the rolling stones magazine on it and how all the important people are scrambling to save tik tok. No joke, I'd like someone to explain why all these important people care.
https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/biden-dems-tiktok-ban-1235239244/
Generally the large ISP will receive an order to sinkhole the tt domains for their users. And most normal people use a modem supplied by the ISP it will use the ISP DNS server or their phones will use the mobile providers DNS servers.
It will not block a determined person but it will effectively block it for a large chunk of the US internet.
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Why do they care enough to listen? It isn't a US based company. I understand if they remove their US servers, but why do they have to block IPs?
Can't US users just get a VPN? Is this whole situation a ploy to ban VPNs and privacy?
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