When Are They Going To Ban TikTok: What’s Actually Happening in 2026

You’ve probably seen the "Goodbye TikTok" videos about a dozen times by now. Every few months, a new wave of panic hits the For You Page, with creators weeping over their drafts and users frantically downloading their data. It feels like we’ve been living in a permanent state of "is it gone yet?" since 2024.

Honestly, it’s exhausting.

But as of right now, in mid-January 2026, the situation has shifted from a flat-out "delete the app" order to a messy, complicated corporate divorce. If you're wondering when are they going to ban TikTok, the short answer is: they might not, but the TikTok you use is about to change forever.

The Deadline That Kept Moving

Let’s look at the timeline, because it’s a total rollercoaster. Originally, the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act—yeah, that’s a mouthful—set a hard deadline for January 19, 2025. President Biden signed it, the Supreme Court upheld it in a landmark ruling on January 17, 2025, and for about 24 hours, everyone thought the lights were going out.

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There was even a brief window where the app technically "went dark" for some users.

Then Donald Trump took office on January 20, 2025. Despite being the guy who first tried to ban it back in 2020, he spent his campaign promising to "save TikTok." His first act in the Oval Office was signing an executive order to pause the enforcement for 75 days.

That 75-day pause turned into a series of extensions.
April 4.
June 19.
December 16.

Each time the clock hit zero, the White House issued another delay. The latest one, signed in September 2025, pushed the "do-not-enforce" order to January 23, 2026. That is the date everyone is staring at right now.

The $14 Billion Divorce

So, what happens on January 23? This isn't just about a ban anymore; it's about a deal.

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The Trump administration has been hammering out a "qualified divestiture" to satisfy the law. Basically, the U.S. government doesn't want ByteDance (the Chinese parent company) to own the keys to the kingdom. To fix this, a consortium of American investors—led by Oracle, Silver Lake, and MGX—is stepping in to buy the U.S. operations for roughly $14 billion.

Here is the breakdown of what the "New TikTok" (likely to be called TikTok USDS Joint Venture LLC) will look like:

• Ownership: The new entity will be majority-owned by Americans. Reports suggest ByteDance will keep a minority stake of less than 20% to stay under the legal limit.
• The Board: A seven-member board, mostly Americans, will call the shots.
• The Tech: Oracle isn't just a landlord for the data anymore. They are literally going to oversee the code.
• The Algorithm: This is the big one. ByteDance is reportedly handing over the "logic" of the algorithm, but the new U.S. company has to "retrain" it using only American user data.

Why Your Feed Might Feel "Off" Soon

If you’ve ever felt like TikTok knows you better than your own mother, that’s the recommendation engine at work. It’s built on years of global data.

Part of the new deal requires a "clean room" environment. Oracle and U.S. security partners are going to monitor every software update. Because the new U.S. entity has to sever its operational ties with Beijing, they have to rebuild the "magic" from scratch.

It’s like trying to cook your grandma’s secret recipe but you have to buy all new ingredients and use a different stove. It might taste the same, but there’s a good chance it feels a little "mid" for a few months while the AI relearns what makes you stop scrolling.

Is a Ban Still Possible?

Total transparency: Yes.

The deal is scheduled to close on January 22, 2026. That is just one day before the current enforcement pause expires. If the Chinese government decides to block the export of the algorithm at the last second—which they’ve threatened to do—the deal falls apart.

If the deal dies, the Department of Justice is legally obligated to enforce the ban. This would mean:

1. Apple and Google have to remove TikTok from the App Store.
2. Web hosting services like Amazon or Cloudflare have to stop supporting TikTok’s traffic.
3. No more updates. The app on your phone would slowly break as your OS updates and the app stays stuck in the past.

The "Project Texas" Ghost

You might remember "Project Texas" from a couple of years ago. TikTok spent $1.5 billion trying to convince Congress that storing data on U.S. servers was enough. Congress basically said, "No thanks."

The current 2026 deal is basically Project Texas on steroids. It’s not just about where the data lives; it’s about who signs the paychecks for the engineers writing the code.

What You Should Do Right Now

Look, the odds of a total blackout on January 23 are lower than they were a year ago, but the "corporate restructuring" is definitely going to cause some glitches. If you’re a creator or a business, sitting around waiting to see when are they going to ban TikTok is a bad strategy.

Diversify your reach. Don't just post on TikTok. Start mirrors of your content on YouTube Shorts and Instagram Reels. We've already seen ByteDance shifting resources—they've been moving staff over to a separate entity called TT Commerce & Global Services LLC which handles things like TikTok Shop, while the core app people move to the new U.S. joint venture.

Back up your memories.
Use the "Download your data" tool in the privacy settings. It takes a few days to process, but it gives you a JSON or HTML file of every comment, video link, and profile detail you’ve ever had.

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Watch the "Close" date.
The magic date is January 22, 2026. If you see news that the "Oracle-TikTok deal has closed," you can breathe a sigh of relief. If you see news that "China blocks algorithm export," start looking for a new favorite app.

The reality is that TikTok is too big to just "poof" out of existence without a massive fight, but the version owned by ByteDance is effectively in its final days in the United States. Whether you call it a ban or a forced sale, the outcome is the same: the TikTok of 2024 is gone, and the TikTok of 2026 is an American-run experiment.

Actionable Next Steps:

1. Request your data archive today so you have a local copy of your account history before the January 23rd deadline.
2. Cross-post your top 10 best-performing videos to an alternative platform like YouTube Shorts to ensure your audience can find you if the app enters a "dark period" during the ownership hand-off.
3. Check your App Store settings to ensure "Offload Unused Apps" is turned off; if a ban does hit, you don't want your phone deleting the app automatically to save space, as you won't be able to redownload it.