We’re only a few days away from the eventual banning of TikTok in the United States. From January 19th, U.S. users won’t be able to download the app from the Google Play Store or Apple App Store. Also, people who have the app won’t be able to access the content. However, if TikTok go dark on U.S. soil, VPNs might see a spike in usage.
A VPN (Virtual Private Network) is a service that routes your internet traffic through a server in a different location. We all know the classic trick of using VPNs to watch region-locked shows on Netflix. However, they can be pretty handy when it comes to protecting your data. People encourage using VPNs when using public Wi-Fi so that hackers can’t access their data. Also, if you don’t want services accessing your location, you can use a VPN.
These are rather useful and affordable tools, with several of them costing $10 or less each month. Some services to look into are Express VPN, Nord VPN, and Proton VPN.
If TikTok goes dark in the States, then VPNs will be VERY popular
Since VPNs allow people to mask their locations, they can prove useful for disgruntled TikTok addicts. If you open the TikTok app after the ban, the app would have to peek at your IP address to see where you’re connecting from. If it detects that you’re in the U.S., then it won’t function. However, a VPN will supply you a fresh IP address from another country. Ostensibly, if you open TikTok with an IP address from China, then it will allow you to use it.
We don’t know if it will work like that, however. So, if you’re looking into getting a VPN specifically for this, there aren’t any guarantees. Be sure to get it for the other benefits. At this point, we don’t know how long this will go on for. If you’re not happy about the decision to ban TikTok, then you’ll need to look to the alternatives like YouTube Shorts or Instagram Reels.
