What happens if the US government bans TikTok

polygon.com:

Since its reinvention in 2017, TikTok has taken the world by storm. The short-form video app — which uses an algorithm that suggests videos to people in an endless feed you can scroll through — is peppered with every kind of content under the sun. Whether you’re interested in anime, looking for the wildest mashups you’ve ever heard, or just there for sheer entertainment, the expansiveness of the app has allowed it to become the defining social media platform of an entire generation. A Pew Research Center survey reports that 67% of U.S. teens say they use the app, out of over 150 million American users.

However, as TikTok has grown, it’s faced increased scrutiny from users, journalists, and the U.S. government. The app has been criticized for spreading misinformation on a variety of topics, like climate change, COVID-19, the war in Ukraine, and even the neurodevelopmental disorder ADHD. TikTok has also faced lawsuits from parents who’ve claimed the app encouraged eating disorders in their children.

More recently, Tiktok is facing a larger challenge as state and federal institutions seek to ban the app due to perceived national security risks. (This is not a first for the app; in 2020, former President Trump proposed a TikTok ban.) In mid-March, the Wall Street Journal reported that the Biden Administration demanded TikTok’s Chinese owners sell their stakes or face a possible ban in the United States. On Thursday morning, TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew testified in Congress amid growing uncertainty around the app.

All the information about the potential ban can be a lot to parse, so from one TikTok scroller to another, here is everything you need to know about the proposed TikTok ban and its possible impacts on everyday users.