We’ve all heard that TikTok could get banned in the US. 

Every content creator, brand, and influencer marketer is asking the same thing…

“What’s next?” 

It’s a question I’ve been asked by clients, friends, and anyone who knows I keep my ear close to the ground in the social media world. 

So I decided to tackle this question with a short and sweet synopsis of why TikTok isn’t going anywhere just yet. 

Let’s dive in.

The Senate passed a bill, which Biden then signed, that forces TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, to divest its stakes in the platform in the next 9 months. If ByteDance doesn’t sell TikTok to a non-Chinese company, it will face a complete ban in the U.S. 

This is nothing new to TikTok as US officials started raising concerns about the social media app back in 2020. This time around, the legislation—named the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act—was bundled into a $95-billion-dollar aid package. 

Here’s the basic breakdown of what we know as of right now. 

ByteDance has 9 months, roughly 270 days, to sell. If they don’t take action, TikTok will be banned from app stores in the United States. There is an option for a 90-day extension if “significant progress” is being made to sell TikTok, pushing that deadline into the spring of 2025. 

That said, TikTok is not going anywhere according to TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew who took to TikTok saying, “Make no mistake, this is a ban, a ban on TikTok and a ban on you and your voice.” 

Other TikTok executives have spoken out against the ban, citing what the company calls unconstitutional legislation that censors Americans’ speech rights and harms small businesses that depend on the app. 

Which brings us to the latest news about this TikTok Ban. As of May 7th, TikTok filed a lawsuit against the US government claiming that the law is an “unprecedented violation” of the First Amendment.

TikTok wrote in the lawsuit, “for the first time in history, Congress has enacted a law that subjects a single, named speech platform to a permanent, nationwide ban, and bars every American from participating in a unique online community with more than 1 billion people worldwide.”

With this new lawsuit, I and many others, anticipate that the timeline for this bill will be pushed back even further than expected, meaning us TikTok users in the US will have access to the platform for more than a year.

I know, there’s a lot to digest here, but let’s take a step back from the politics and talk about what marketers should be thinking about at this time. 

A long fight still lies ahead. The likelihood that TikTok will be banned entirely is still low-to-moderate in my opinion. 

Short-form/vertical video content is here to stay. The FYP format has been adopted by nearly every other social platform in an attempt to stay relevant. 

Instagram Reels and Youtube Shorts have struggled to steal significant market share from TikTok because of its superior algorithm/cultural significance, but in a world where TikTok is banned entirely in the US, users will quickly flock to other channels. 

Whether that channel is Instagram, YouTube, Snapchat, or somewhere else, is yet to be seen, but best believe creators will find a way to share content. 

At this point, no user migration or impact on performance has happened. If anything, TikTok is blowing up at the moment with this notoriety, presenting the perfect opportunity for brands to drive growth through the platform. 

Our position is to keep things business-as-usual while we closely monitor the court proceedings and keep an eye out for signs of user/creator migration. At the first sign of TikTok’s decline, Ubiquitous and our customers will be the first to know.

Ultimately, creators will lead the charge out of necessity for their livelihood in the event of a ban. If they start to migrate toward other channels, Ubiquitous will follow right alongside them. 

We started Ubiquitous with a creator-first mindset, focusing on the people, not the platform. We’ve built our network, processes, and expertise around brand/creator collaboration—not TikTok alone. We are and will remain channel-agnostic. At the end of the day, we care about the results we deliver for our clients, no matter the platform.