The good news is that if you are in a country that has banned TikTok, there are still ways you can possibly get around the ban. That way you can also enjoy the dancing, memes, and duets on the platform.
This post will cover the countries that have banned TikTok as well as how you can still use the platform in those regions.
Which Countries Have Banned TikTok?
TikTok is now banned in many countries primarily due to censorship and security concerns surrounding the app’s ownership by Chinese company ByteDance. TikTok launched in India and it was banned quickly due to the massive user base who were sharing content that was either inappropriate or could be considered pornographic. The app has since been banned in a number of other countries with the United States expressing unease and attempting to have it banned from the app stores. The main concern was how much data the company was collecting on users of the app and what it could be used for.
The following countries have banned TikTok in their region:
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China
Even though TikTok originally came from China it is banned. This was done due to it having foreign content, that’s why there is a special Chinese version of the app called Douyin. Douyin is almost identical to Tiktok and is also produced by the Bytedance company which owns TikTok, but it only contains Chinese content.
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India
India has banned the TikTok app twice. The first time was on 3 April 2019, because the app would be “encouraging pornography” and showing “inappropriate content”. This ban went on for 22 days, as the Madras High Court reversed its order after TikTok stated they had removed over 6 million videos that violated their policy and guidelines.
The second time was on 29 June 2020, which was done along with 223 other Chinese apps. It was a response to a military clash between the Indian and Chinese troops and the reason given after was “to protect the data and privacy of its 1.3 billion citizens.”
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Bangladesh
The Bangladeshi government blocked the internet access of TikTok because of the promotion of pornography and gambling on the app. This was done in November 2018.
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Pakistan
In October 2020 a ban was ordered on Tiktok, which was later reversed after ByteDance stated that they would remove objectionable TikTok content. Later in March 2021, they put the ban back after regulators of the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority said that ByteDance couldn’t show that they could remove the objectionable content.
Countries that temporarily banned TikTok in their regions:
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Indonesia
Indonesia temporarily banned TikTok in July 2018. They were concerned about some of the inappropriate content on the platform and said that the platform would be banned if they didn’t work on those issues. 8 days later, TikTok began to ban pornographic and other inappropriate types of content.
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United States of America
In late September 2020, the Trump administration declared that they would be banning TikTok due to security threats, concerned that the Chinese government was using the app to spy on Americans. In the end, the ban never went through, though there was discussion that part of the company may be sold to an American company to allow its citizens to continue to use the app.
Ways to Use TikTok From a Banned Country
There is still a way to get past this ban and all you need is a VPN. A VPN is a virtual private network, which encrypts all the information that you carry with you while browsing the internet. By using a VPN you can browse the internet without the dangers of getting seen by hackers, predators, spies, or the government.
You can also change your virtual location which is your IP address, that way the website you are using thinks you are from somewhere else. For example, you are actually from China but with the use of a VPN, you can appear as if you are from the United States of America.
There is a great range of VPNs that you can use to change your virtual location to get out of an app ban. However, here are the 3 most popular VPNs that can be seen across the internet. Often even doing sponsorships with various content creators on YouTube.
NordVPN
NordVPN was made in 2012 by four childhood friends, it can be used in various ways such as an app on iOS, MacOS, Android, Linux, and Android TV, but also as a browser extension on Google Chrome and Firefox. They provide the following benefits of choosing NordVPN:
Safe internet, all your data will be safe behind a security wall.Fast VPN, the speed of your internet won’t be affected by using NordVPN.No-log policy, they won’t log any of your internet activity.Servers everywhere, you can use a big arrange of servers located all around the world.Multiple devices, you can use up to 6 devices on one account.Easy to use, with only one click you can use NordVPN as you browse the internet.
Surfshark
Surfshark was first launched on iOS in 2018 and this expanded later to Android and browser in 2019. Surfshark can also be used on MacOS, Windows, Linux, and Fire Tv, even on game consoles such as PlayStation and Xbox. They provide the following benefits of choosing Surfshark:
CleanWeb, you will be safe from ads, trackers, malware, and phishing attempts.Unlimited devices, with one account you can use Surfshark on as many devices as you will need.Whitelister, you can give certain websites approval to bypass the VPN.No log policy,they won’t track, check, or save any of your online activity.Multihop, you can connect to multiple countries at the same time to elevate your privacy to a new level.
ExpressVPN
ExpressVPN was founded in 2009 and works on Android, iOS, Linux, macOS, and Microsoft Windows. Later on, they even became a founding member of the VPN Trust Initiative. They provide the following benefits of choosing ExpressVPN:
IP address masking, they will that your IP address and location won’t be revealed.No activity or connection logs, none of your traffic data will be logged.Network Lock kill switch, if your VPN connection drops, it will block all online traffic until the protection is restored.Speed test, ExpressVPN provides a built-in speed test, so you can choose the fastest server location for your network.Unlimited bandwidth, you can download as much as you want, without the VPN capping certain types of traffic.