As TikTok goes dark in the US, it’s not just millions of creators left reeling. Marketers are scrambling to recalibrate campaigns, venture capitalists are eyeing the platform’s carcass for opportunity, and politicians are sharpening their arguments. The app’s shutdown marks a pivotal moment in tech history—one that balances the threats of national security with the irresistible lure of cultural and economic influence. But as the US pulls the plug, the rest of the world is asking: could we be next?
This Sunday, TikTok officially went dark in the US. For 170 million American users, one of the most culturally impactful platforms of the decade vanished with a stark message: “our services (are) temporarily unavailable”. It wasn’t a bug or a glitch—it was the result of a Supreme Court decision upholding a law that required TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, to divest its US operations or face a nationwide ban. ByteDance didn’t …