US TikTok ban: What would it mean for Scottish users?

TikTok faces being permanently banned in the United States after national security concerns were raised over accusations the platform’s parent company ByteDance could be linked to the Chinese government.

TikTok has said it is “in the process” of restoring service to users in the United States after the popular video-sharing platform went dark in response to a new law.

Its China-based parent company ByteDance was given until January 19 to sell the app to a US-approved buyer or face a country-wide ban, after Congress passed legislation in April last year.

Chiefs said in a post on X on Sunday that tech companies that faced fines if they did not remove TikTok’s app from the digital stores and other service providers had agreed to help.

President-elect Trump indicated on Sunday he would an executive order giving the China-based parent company 90 days to find an approved buyer and avoid a permanent US ban.

Scottish creators with audiences reaching across the pond say the app has been “life-changing” in helping them build their careers.

‘TikTok gives me opportunities I wouldn’t have otherwise had’

Millie Graham, from East Ayrshire, joined the app in 2018 and began gaining traction for her cosplay content during lockdown.

Millie, who goes by the username “whatsername.01” now has over 2.6 million followers on the platform and was labelled one of Scotland’s most influential TikTokers last year.

She told STV News: “I was able to do content creating for two years because I was making enough on there and I was able to be creative.

“Not coming from a city and growing up in a wee village, you don’t really get creative opportunities. TikTok gave me the opportunity to do what I wanted to do and be creative even though there weren’t any creative opportunities around me.

“For a lot of Scottish creators, we do get pushed on to the American side of Tiktok so we’ll not have the same viewership as we used to have.”

‘It has been life-changing for us – it’s a shame for musicians’

For many bands and musicians it’s been an opportunity to gain free exposure for their music.

Edinburgh-based band, High Fade, have amassed millions of views on TikTok. Over the last two years they’ve gained a massive American following, so much so that they’re preparing to go on their third US tour.

The band’s frontman, Harry Valentino, said: “I think it’s a shame for a lot of bands and a lot of people that use it as a platform and have essentially built a career off of that.

“For us it was life-changing because we were just busking on the street and then stuff started getting traction and then we got an agent.

“The last two years has been insane for all of us, for me Calvin and Olly. We didn’t think for a second that we’d have videos that have got seven million views and it’s nuts.

“I think that it shows that social media can be used for a good thing.”

‘Banning Tiktok is not a silver bullet’

Dr Robert Dewar, a lecturer in cyber security at Abertay University said: “Banning a single app is not some sort of silver bullet to solve a larger security problem.

“If you start going down the route of banning apps, you’ll eventually get into some sort of app based Whack-a-mole, where you stop the access and use of one app but there are others that people use.

“That then generates a huge amount of income or publicity, more and more people start using it.

“Then that app becomes a problem, then you might want to buy that one for security reasons.”

While the future of TikTok in the US hangs in the balance, the UK Government have said there are no plans to enforce a similar ban in the UK.

A UK Government spokesman said: “This is a matter for the US government. There are no plans to introduce a TikTok ban in the UK.

“We engage with all major social media companies to understand their plans for ensuring the security of UK data and to ensure they meet the high data protection and cyber security standards we expect.”