Black market TikTok?
Unofficial TikTok Downloads Surge in The US
As uncertainty around TikTok’s future continues, more Americans are using unofficial means to download the app.
President Trump signed an order allowing Americans to continue using TikTok despite the Supreme Court upholding law that could see it banned or sold.
So, as Google and Apple are preventing new users from downloading the app, more Americans are “sideloading”, using third party or “black market” sites to put TikTok on their phones.
One sideloading company says more than 120,000 Americans have used their services to get TikTok, with as many as 2,000 downloads an hour at times.
Americans are also using VPNs to make it seem like they’re outside of the US to get the app as dozens of YouTube guides walk new users through sideloading.
Siding with the President’s judgement, TikTok even released a kit on Monday making it easier for Android users to get the platform.
Lawmakers says It’s not illegal to download TikTok this way, but it is illegal to distribute the app.