This morning came the news update from Capitol Hill that audiences around the world have been eagerly awaiting: the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) will uphold the law regarding the ban of TikTok due to national security and data privacy concerns .
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While the phrase 'ban TikTok' has been trending recently, it's important to note that it's not necessarily an outright ban. Under this law, parent company ByteDance could still sell TikTok to avoid being banned in the US, although it has so far refused to do so.
Now, the prospect of TikTok disappearing in the near future looms over many American users who are already expressing their disappointment in this historic SCOTUS decision, which the bipartisan justice coalition handed down unanimously.
Supreme Court delays TikTok ban
This decision by the Supreme Court to uphold the ban on TikTok is likely raising a lot of questions from users of the platform and content creators. However, if TikTok is banned in the US, what will it mean for other social media platforms?
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The SCOTUS TikTok ban ruling likely comes at an excellent time for one of the platform's biggest rivals.
While the future of TikTok has been presided over by the Supreme Court, a fellow social media leader has been in the crossfire of the court of public opinion.
Metaplatforms (GOAL) the parent company of facebook, instagram and WhatsApp, also faces an uncertain future. CEO Mark Zuckerberg's decision to end fact-checking at facebook and replace it with a system similar to x's Community Notes, implemented by Elon Musk, has sparked controversy.
“Interest in searches related to leaving Meta platforms increased this week, particularly in the last two days. Google searches for terms like “how to delete facebook permanently” reached a maximum score of 100, which Google Trends defines as maximum popularity,” it reported. TechCrunch following the fact-check announcement.
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Things have been looking bleak lately. But in its darkest hour, Meta can be saved thanks to the zero-sum nature of social media.
TikTok ban could send users rushing to instagram
Even if Zuckerberg's decision is turning users against Meta, the Supreme Court may have inadvertently thrown it a lifeline.
If TikTok users can't watch and upload the videos they like, they'll probably look for them on instagram, widely considered the most similar platform.
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instagram is making the most of the impending TikTok ban, as evidenced by its current rollout of new features that appear to mirror the TikTok user experience by highlighting Reels.
According to Meta, these features will “make it easier for users to discover the content their friends and followers like on the platform.”
While Chinese-owned app Rednote is also maneuvering to attract former TikTok users, reports indicate that content creators are likely to face more barriers to monetizing their followers as the app is primarily popular in China. .
This creates a key opportunity for instagram to drive user growth at a critical time. The Supreme Court ruling on the TikTok ban may go down in history as the phenomenon that saved Meta Platforms.
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