SPRINGFIELD, MA (WGGB/WSHM) – With a TikTok ban looming, Western Mass News caught up with local residents and a tech expert to learn what they think of the ban.
We caught up with several folks earlier today who said that even though they personally don’t use the app often, they believe a complete ban is a major step in the wrong direction. However, one local expert we spoke with says even if the app technically does get banned, there’s still a chance users may still be able to access it.
“Will the app work or not? Everyone is waiting to find that out,” tech expert Stan Prager with GoGeeks told us.
The Supreme Court ruled on Friday that a ban on TikTok may take effect this weekend. The controversial ruling upset several local residents who use the app daily.
“A lot of us are pretty used to like, going on it and being used to it. It’s going to be hard to kind of get over it,” George, a TikTok user told us.
He added that the ban would be unfair to those creating revenue off the app.
“There’s people out there making money from it, people will base their whole lives around it get millions of followers,” George said.
So, what exactly will happen if the app gets banned on January 19th? Western Mass News brought our questions to local technology expert Stan Prager, owner of GoGeeks in East Longmeadow.
He told us there a few potential things that could happen on Sunday.
“ByteDance, owner of TikTok, has suggested that they’ll just go dark when the ban goes into effect, which means the app will no longer work. If they don’t do that, the app should still function if you already have it on your phone, but it has become illegal for the app store of either Droid or iPhone to host the TikTok app, so you can’t download it anymore. Whether or not that will make the app inoperable, that we don’t know yet.”
Prager told us since nothing like this has happened before in the United States, it’s hard to pin down what exactly will happen with the app in the coming days.
“The new president may decide to extend the ban so you could go 90 days before the ban actually takes effect, the issue is the ban goes into effect Sunday, inauguration day is Monday,” Prager explained. “I think what we have right now are far more questions than we have answers, because it is unprecedented.”
The ban also affecting streams of income for thousands of creators on the app. Local residents shared a message of hope for those potentially losing their livelihood.
“Keep forging ahead, keep doing what you’re doing until you can’t. People are smart, they’ll figure it out. TikTok is just one platform, there’ll be others. If they are banned, there’ll be other ways to sustain their income,” Connecticut resident Collin Smith emphasized.
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