Most TikTok influencers and their fans are scrambling to find the next best app to try out. The goldrush is on to find the next TikTok replacement app.

The President and other government reps have been talking about banning TikTok for some months now. So now influencers and viewers alike are wondering: what’s the next TikTok? Which new app will replace TikTok and become “The New TikTok” for millions of fans?

Here’s the list:

 

List of TikTok Replacement Apps

• Instagram (obviously)
• Twitter (yes, really!)
• Snapchat (remember Snap??)
• Byte — A short-form video app where users can create 15-second looping videos. Created Dom Hofmann, co-founder of Vine
• Triller — another video app so close on TikTok’s heels that they even sued TikTok for patent infringement
• Dubsmash — video sharing mobile app originally founded in Germany, now moved to New York
• Reels — a spinoff/sort-of-standalone feature of Instagram, owned by the Facebook conglomerate
• Likee — another video sharing app like the rest on this list, but its parent company is also Chinese, so who knows

Are you on TikTok? What are your favorite TikTok replacement apps? Let us know in the comments below!

 

Why do we need a “New TikTok” app anyway?

The US government is considering banning the use of the Chinese-made social app. Lots of questions remain unanswered about whether or not the President or Federal Government can just do that.

Lots of analysts say he/they can’t. But, especially with this administration, stranger things have happened.

And we all know that Chinese law prevents LOTS of non-Chinese companies from selling or operating within the country, without submitting to lots of controversial requirements.

But US law operates substantially differently, and therefore the legal requirements or restrictions for the US to return suit may get in the way.

We’re not legal scholars, so that’s about all the policy analysis you’re likely to get from us. Either way, there’s lots of chatter around the web about how to replace TikTok.

 

When will TikTok get banned?

Rumors are circulating that it could be canned as early as this weekend (August 1st or 2nd, 2020), after the President tweeted about it.

The New York Times reported that Microsoft was in talks with TikTok’s owner ByteDance to buy its US share of the app. That could potentially change the US-China landscape in this conflict.

But as of August 2nd, BBC reported that Microsoft has paused those talks, potentially in response to the potential ban.

There are lots of other options out there, too—a sale of TikTok globally, for example—but no one is really sure which of those will happen—if any. And least of all, when.

 

Why is TikTok banned?

For security reasons. But maybe also for political ones. The US Government has censured and publicly reprimanded TikTok before.

Those complaints centered around data privacy child safety issues. The feds have called TikTok spyware, and claimed that it sends data on its American users to the Chinese government in Beijing.

It’s worth noting that all of those claims are unproven and repeatedly denied by ByteDance.

Still, the Pentagon banned its use on military and government-owned phones. And talk of an all-out ban was first floated by the Secretary of State in early July.

Also, let’s remember that LOTS of US-based apps and websites are blocked or banned in China:

• Google — including YouTube, Gmail, Google Play, Google Maps, Google Drive, Hangouts, Blogger
• Facebook — including Instagram, WhatsApp, Messenger, and probably Reels soon
• Twitter — including Periscope
• Snapchat
• Reddit
• Tumblr
• Pinterest
• Slack
• Twitch

 

Will TikTok come back after the ban?

We don’t know. You could imagine a scenario—which would be likely in the event of legislation or Executive Order by President—in which TikTok’s owners could reform the app to comply with certain standards—data must be stored on US soil, for example.

But it’s too early to tell, and it’s entirely speculation at this point.

 

“The TikTok ban is bullshit!”

No, it’s not. It’s the right call. Privacy and security are the real deal. They’re the most important things we have. And TikTok does not respect them.

It’s fair to point out that all social media apps harvest users’ data in obscene ways. And that’s a massive problem, too.

But TikTok is unique in its massive collection of young users and its’ lack of oversight due to ownership/relationship with an active US adversary.

There have been some interesting reactions and side-effects of the potential ban:

Trump’s war on TikTok is finally getting our young people to register to vote. And we thank him for it.

— Amy Siskind 🏳️‍🌈 (@Amy_Siskind) August 2, 2020

 

“This is censorship!”

Nope. No one is saying you can’t speak or publish your opinions.

They just not letting that one company offer its app… in its current form.

There are lots of ways TikTok could fix its problems and come back again. But it’s too early to know, and that’s not our call.

 

Can I move my TikTok videos to the New TikTok app?

Sorta. You can export your current TikTok videos and save them to your phone. The comments and interactions won’t come with them, however. That stuff is gone.

Can you republish them on the next TikTok replacement app? It depends on which app you choose to replace TikTok.

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