Fellow US citizens, say goodbye to scrolling endlessly in your favorite for you page (fyp). The legislation signed by President Joe Biden mid April officially banned TikTok, since ByteDance refused to sell its platform to a non-chinese company. BBC reported this ban will not be an immediate force because the US Government still gives a 9-month notice to the offer. So, what will TikTok do after being forced to leave the US market? Making things look easy through SEA expansion TikTok’s ban in the US doesn’t only hurt its operations, but also small businesses that use its platform to reach global markets. To add, TikTok’s ban didn't close its cultural impact it had in businesses because of its live commerce used as a marketing tool in the US. TikTok live commerce shares a buying experience for the user without leaving the app. Not only convenient, it's also one way to expand businesses’ audience while also increasing sales. Following the current situation, TikTok starts to focus more in developing more space for the Southeast Asian (SEA) markets in exchange for filling the void. Therefore, these businesses are also forced to find a way to include themselves in TikTok’s expansion into the SEA markets. Though some may say it’s a huge opportunity to follow its market transfer to other regions, some say it’s a controversy. One country that TikTok highlighted is Indonesia. Based on Data Reportal in February 2024, 126.8 million of the Indonesian population is an average TikTok user. Other countries that TikTok users are in come from Vietnam, Thailand, Singapore, and other SEA countries. But, will it sustain though? Talking about the impacts that stayed in the US markets, surely TikTok’s expansion into the SEA market will likely face more challenges. CNA stated that if summed up, the whole SEA market will not be as big of a market as the US. This is due to the fact that the US uses dollars and its market is perfect for selling e-commerce goods. Although, TikTok with the existing state will only sustain its global dominance in pushing their efforts into the SEA countries. The growing presence of TikTok’s platform in the world might be a challenge in the US markets that such laws exist for their own interests. Regardless of the ban, TikTok forces its operations on SEA markets to sustain within their tech dominance for future years. This creates such liability for the future of TikTok and the whole tech scene, since the ban only signifies more gap between the two economic giants – US and China. But no matter what will happen in the future, surely TikTok will still have its impact in the global tech scene with the ever growing use of the platform. Source: - BBC: TikTok will not be sold, Chinese parent tells US - CNA: Will a potential US ban drive TikTok deeper into the arms of Southeast Asia? - CNN: Banning TikTok would hit China’s tech ambitions and deepen the global digital divide - Data Reportal: Digital 2024: Indonesia - DInsights: TikTok's US Ban Risk: An Expansion Force to Southeast Asia's Market