Here’s what a US TikTok ban could mean for users, businesses ahead of Congress vote [Video]

SAN FRANCISCO — The clock may be ticking for TikTok.

A new bill would force the social media app’s Chinese-based parent company, ByteDance to divest in TikTok, or face a U.S. ban.

Tech expert Ahmed Banafa said this could ultimately cripple the app that has 170 million U.S. users – more than any other country in the world.

So it’s a critical problem.

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“It doesn’t mean that they’re going to go to the phones of every single user and uninstall it,” Banafa said. “The government will ask Apple and Google to remove it from their app stores. So if there’s no more update, the app itself is going to become outdated and become less attractive and it’s going to die out over time.”

This is not the first time the app has faced a ban.

In 2020, an executive order from President Donald Trumpwas ultimately …