How will the TikTok ban in the US affect users in PH, other countries?

TikTok, a popular social media platform with over 40 million users in the Philippines, earlier went dark briefly in the US due to national security and data privacy concerns.
With many Filipinos using the short form video platform for content creation and business, how will the US ban an impact in the Philippines?
Jam Jacob, legal and policy advisor at the Foundation for Media Alternatives (FMA), said the TikTok ban in the US could set a trend for other countries to ban other social media platforms or websites that are considered threats to the country’s security.
“Ang nakikita nating potential impact niya long term is it could set a precedent to other countries to pattern their own approach to TikTok or other social media for that matter,” he told GMA News Online.
(The potential long term impact that we see is it could set a precedent to other countries to pattern their own approach to TikTok or social media for that matter.)
“But if ituloy siya ng US, without going into kung ano yung motivations niya (But if the US proceeds, without going what its motivations are), it could show that it’s actually possible that no matter how popular a platform is, if the government deems it as a threat to supposedly the national security of the country, to its citizens, or to its residents, it can take that extreme measure of absolutely prohibiting the operations of a particular platform,” Jacob pointed out.
“It could set a trend to other countries which could be dangerous to people and their rights, freedom of expression, and most of all, right to information to some extent.”
The US Supreme Court earlier upheld unanimously a law ordering TikTok to cut ties with its China-based parent ByteDance or shut down its operations in the US to resolve concerns as officials are concerned that there was a risk of American’s data being misused.
But recently reelected US President Donald Trump signed an executive order seeking to delay by 75 days the enforcement of the law. The White House is reportedly negotiating to have software firm Oracle to take over the app's algorithm, data collection and software updates.
There are currently several countries that have banned TikTok such as India, Afghanistan, Nepal, South Sudan, among others.
There are currently no laws in the Philippines that would ban or regulate social media sites. However, the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) said that if a website is perceived as a threat to the country’s national security, it will comply with the orders from the country’s leaders.
“Kahit compliant sila sa regulation or kahit walang batas to regulate them, halimbawa sabihin naman ng mga leaders ng ating bansa na this is detrimental to our national security and they ordered the DICT to ban them, then we will comply,” said DICT spokesperson Renato Paraiso.
(Even if they are compliant with the regulation or even if there’s no law to regulate them, if our leaders find them detrimental to our national security and they order the DICT to ban them, then we will comply.)
The DICT said the Philippine government considers content creators as professionals, noting that the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) is now offering courses on content creation.
Hence, banning the app in the Philippines could mean a loss of income for many users who earn via the content they share on TikTok.
“This would be disenfranchising and taking away a lot of jobs. Kami po ang consideration namin sa mga content creators sa pamahalaan, propesyon na rin po ito, pagkakakitaan na po ito, trabaho na rin po ito. Sa TESDA nga po, mayroon ng courses for content creation,” said Paraiso.
(This would be disenfranchising and taking away a lot of jobs. We in the government consider content creators as professionals because they earn from it and it’s a job for them. In fact, TESDA is now offering courses for content creation.)
“So those are the things we have to weigh kasi these are already inherent rights to make a living. So talagang maapektuhan sila at the same time, I think may mga alternatives naman.”
(So those are the things we have to weigh because these are already inherent rights to make a living. So this could affect them, but I think there are alternatives.)
For its part, the FMA believes that banning TikTok in the Philippines would only lead users to move to other social media platforms which have already incorporated short form video features.
YouTube now has “Shorts” and Meta’s Facebook and Instagram have so-called “Reels.”
“Initially magkakaroon siya ng impact just because marami siyang users. Pero in the long run, I don’t think it will be that big. Dahil sa sobrang popularity ng TikTok at inintroduce niya yung short form videos, all these social media platforms napilitan rin sila mag-create din. Nag-adapt sila,” said Jacob.
(Initially it would make an impact because many are using it. But in the long run, I don’t think it will be that big. Due to TikTok's popularity, all these other social media platforms were forced to have a feature for short form videos. So they adapted.) —RF, GMA Integrated News