How to get around the TikTok ban in the US

“Even VPNs don’t lead to spoofing” in India, Goossen told WIRED.

In the first hours of the US ban, it was not clear exactly how feasible it would be to circumvent the restrictions on US accounts. TikTok appears to have taken a more extreme approach, turning any US versions of the app dark, blocking out versions of the TikTok app software that are designed to be downloaded and used by US users. It also appears that US-linked accounts are blocked regardless of IP address or SIM country information.

Turning on a VPN alone certainly wasn’t enough to circumvent the ban and get back on TikTok. But using a non-US TikTok account after removing the SIM card (or on a device without a US SIM card/US phone number) seems to work when combined with a VPN. Likewise, using a VPN with a desktop or Tor browser was enough to load a non-US TikTok account in the US early on a Sunday morning, although the desktop version of TikTok has always been much more limited than its mobile app. .

“TikTok examines the source IP address of network packets – if the source IP address belongs to India, it drops the packets,” Goossen explains of the restrictions in India. “Also, TikTok fetches the country information included in the SIM card, and if the country code is ‘IN’, it filters the network connection. When we remove the SIM card, TikTok fails to recognize Indian users from the SIM card, and when we use VPNs “The IP address changes, and no longer belongs to the Indian IP range. Hence, TikTok again fails to identify that the user is accessing from India. This is how we bypass the filtering.”

Virtual private networks, or VPNsthey work by passing your Internet traffic through servers physically maintained in locations around the world, so you can identify an IP address associated with a different location than where you are physically located. For example, American TikTok users can use VPNs to make it look like they are accessing the Internet from outside the United States. VPNs also prevent your Internet Service Provider (ISP) from seeing your browsing data, adding a potential extra layer of privacy. When you use a VPN, your ISP will simply see the connections to the VPN instead of accessing a detailed list of all the websites you visit.

As a result of these capabilities, VPNs are frequently used in attempts to circumvent digital geolocation restrictions, such as those found on Netflix or other streaming platforms. It is also an important and familiar tool for circumventing Internet censorship programs for people living under authoritarian regimes such as those in Russia, China, and Iran.

However, using a VPN comes with caveats. Some commercial VPNs log people’s browsing history, essentially shifting data collection from ISPs to VPN makers. This means that data is no more protected, and that law enforcement can request it from a VPN provider in the same way they make requests to ISPs. As a result, A. was chosen Free VPNs are generally not a good idea– With some even Sell ​​access to your home Internet connections. But some VPNs publish no-logging policies and offer third-party audits and other transparency features in an attempt to show their compliance.

Right now, TikTok’s efforts to ban US users appear to be very stringent, and even a non-US SIM card or no SIM plus a VPN may not be a practical path back to the app with a US TikTok account. But the restrictions may only be temporary anyway. In practice, there appears little appetite for a permanent ban in the United States. Although The genesis of the ideaPresident Trump said in recent days that… He doesn’t want the app to be blocked.

Trump said in a tweet: “My decision regarding TikTok will be made in the not-too-distant future, but I must have time to review the situation.” Truth is a social function Friday. “Stay tuned!”