Replicating TikTok’s Success Will Be Harder Than It Looks
The loss of TikTok could be YouTube and Instagram’s gain in the US, but the Chinese app has a massive head start on perfecting an algorithmic approach.
Illustration: John Devolle for Bloomberg
The clock is ticking for TikTok, the short-form video app used by more than 170 million Americans and over 1.5 billion people globally.
On Dec. 6, a federal appeals court upheld a law that requires TikTok parent ByteDance Ltd. to sell the app to a US owner or cease operating in the country. This week, the Supreme Court agreed to hear the case, scheduling arguments for Jan. 10. Unless the law is blocked by the court, the ban will take effect Jan. 19.