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“Even VPNs don’t lead to evasion” in India, Gosain told WIRED.
In the early hours of the US ban, it was unclear to what extent it would be possible to circumvent the restrictions on US accounts. It appeared that TikTok took a more extreme approach, obscuring any US build of the app, obscuring versions of the TikTok software that were made available for download and use by US users. It also appeared that accounts associated with the US were blocked regardless of IP address or SIM country information.
Running a VPN alone was certainly not enough to bypass the ban and return to TikTok. But after removing the SIM (or on a device without a US SIM card/US phone number), using a non-US TikTok account worked when connected to a VPN. Similarly, using a VPN with a desktop browser or Tor Browser was enough to get a non-US TikTok account to boot in the US early Sunday morning, although the desktop version of TikTok has always been more limited than its mobile app .
“TikTok checks the source IP of network packets – if the source IP belongs to India, it drops the packets,” Gosain explains of the restrictions in India. “Also, the TikTok app receives the country information entered on the SIM card and filters the network connection if the country code is ‘IN’.” When we remove the SIM card, TikTok app can’t identify Indian users from the SIM card and when we use VPNs, the IP address changes and it no longer belongs to the Indian IP range. So again, TikTok fails to detect that the user is logged in from India. So we bypass the filter.”
Virtual private networks or VPNs work by routing your internet traffic through servers that are physically located around the world, so you can choose an IP address that is connected to a different location than where you are physically located. For example, American TikTok users access the internet outside the US using VPNs. VPNs also prevent your internet service provider (ISP) from seeing your browsing data, adding an extra layer of potential privacy. When you use a VPN, your ISP will see the links to the VPN instead of accessing a detailed list of all the websites you visit.
As a result of these capabilities, VPNs are often used in attempts to bypass digital geolocation restrictions, such as on Netflix or other streaming platforms. They are also an important and familiar tool for people living under authoritarian regimes, such as those in Russia, China, and Iran, to circumvent Internet censorship programs.
However, using a VPN comes with caveats. Some commercial VPNs record people’s browsing history, which largely shifts data collection from ISPs to VPN manufacturers. This means that the data is no longer protected and law enforcement agencies can request it from the VPN provider in the same way they request it from ISPs. As a result, a a free VPN is generally not a good idea– even with some sell access to home internet connections. But some VPNs publish no-logging policies and offer third-party audits and other transparency features to demonstrate their compliance.
For now, it appears that TikTok’s efforts to block US users are extremely strict, and even with a non-US SIM card or SIM-free and VPN US TikTok account, there may not be a workable way to get back into the app. But in any case, the restrictions may be temporary. In practice, there appears to be little appetite for a permanent ban in the US. And yet generation of an ideaPresident Trump recently said that he does not want the program to be banned.
“My decision on TikTok will be made in the not-too-distant future, but I need time to review the situation,” Trump said. Truth Social writing on friday. “Stay with us!”
