
The collateral effects for Europe of the possible “blackout” of TikTok in the US
The disappearance of TikTok from application stores beyond the seas could become effective this Sunday if the Supreme Court finally decides not to postpone the entry into force of the rule aimed at vetoing the social network from China on US soil. TikTok could also evade its ban in the United States if its parent company ByteDance agrees to divest its US subsidiary (something that the company has flatly rejected in any case).
The United States Government hides behind the threat to national security that TikTok supposedly constitutes to force the social network to change hands in the North American country. US authorities are also concerned that ByteDance and TikTok’s alleged links to the Beijing government could eventually translate into the transfer of private data of US citizens to the Chinese Communist Party.
ByteDance categorically rejects such accusations and has taken the case to the Supreme Courtwhose magistrates were in favor of the application of the rule that seeks to ban TikTok in the United States in a hearing held last Friday, considering that it does not violate the First Amendment of the Constitution. The court, which is the highest court beyond the seas, will announce its final ruling in this regard in the coming days.
If the law finally comes into force on January 19, American TikTok users who have been using the social network until now will be able to continue accessing the platform.although they will not be able to benefit from updates in the application stores. New downloads of the TikTok app will, however, be prohibited, as the social network will no longer be present in the application stores.
The eventual “blackout” of TikTok in the United States will affect the huge community of creators on the social network and the advertisers who rely on this platform to advertise. In 2024, TikTok generated advertising revenue of around $11 billion in the United States. If the ban on the social network is effectively carried out on the other side of the pond, the turnover of the ByteDance subsidiary will be significantly reduced in the United States and the brands that currently advertise on TikTok will foreseeably transfer their advertising budgets to alternative platforms such as Instagram and YouTube.
For its part, TikTok creators based in the United States will have to reinvent themselves and move to other platforms to try to maintain their reach and the income they have earned until now through their collaborations with brands. Many “tiktokers” are already urging their “followers” to also provide them with support on platforms such as Instagram and YouTube, which are soon emerging as the major beneficiaries of the TikTok “blackout” in the United States.
More regulations for TikTok in Europe too?
If TikTok ends up going black in the United States, the debate about TikTok could also heat up in Europewhere many critical voices are already calling for the EU to introduce more regulations to short-term ByteDance’s subsidiary. It goes without saying that a ban on TikTok in the United States would make those critical voices against the social network on this side of the Atlantic even more vocal.
On the old continent, the authorities are concerned about the possible influence of China on TikTok and the potentially spurious use that the social network could eventually make of the data of its European users.
Anywayand even if TikTok continued to operate normally in Europe after its ban in the United States, there would inevitably be collateral effects for companies based in the old continent.which will see their reach reduced because the global community of the TikTok subsidiary will also significantly decrease in size.
Brands that operate on a global scale and that have a particular focus on younger target audience groups will likely be the most affected by the TikTok ban in the United States. and they must urgently look for alternatives to the social network from China.
In the United States, TikTok currently has around 170 million active users per monthwhile in Europe the social network has 150 million active users at its side.
In 2024 alone, TikTok entered its coffers on a global scale of $18 billion from advertising and 11,000 of those 18,000 million sank their roots in the United States. In European lands, TikTok’s advertising revenue is substantially lower and was estimated at around $3 billion last year.
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