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“Even VPNs don’t lead to deviance” in India, Gosain told WIRED.
In the first hours of the US ban, it was not clear how it would be possible to overcome the ban on US accounts. It seemed that TikTok had gone too far, turning any US builds of the app into black – leaving out the versions of the TikTok app that were designed to be downloaded and used by US users. It also appeared that accounts connected to the US were being blocked regardless of IP address or SIM country information.
Running a VPN alone was not enough to bypass the ban and get back on TikTok. But it seems that using a non-US TikTok account after removing the SIM (or on a device without a US SIM card / US phone number) worked when paired with a VPN. Similarly, using a VPN with a desktop browser or Tor Browser was enough to get a non-US TikTok account into the US on Sunday morning, although the desktop version of TikTok is always slower than its mobile app.
“TikTok looks at the source IP of network packets – if the source IP is from India, it drops the packets,” explains Gosain, on restrictions in India. “Also, the TikTok app takes the country information from the SIM card, and if the country code is ‘IN,’ it filters the network. When we remove the SIM card, the TikTok app fails to recognize Indian users from the SIM card, and when we use VPNs, IP addresses change, and are no longer in the Indian IP range. Therefore, TikTok is also unable to detect that the user is from India. This is how we bypass filtering.”
Private networks, or VPNswork by routing your internet traffic through servers hosted in locations around the world, so you can choose an IP address that is tied to a different location than your location. For example, American TikTok users can use VPNs to appear as if they are accessing the internet from outside the US. VPNs also prevent internet service providers (ISPs) from seeing your browsing activity, adding additional privacy. When you use a VPN, your ISP only sees the VPN connection instead of getting a detailed list of all the websites you visit.
Because of this ability, VPNs are often used to try to get around digital restrictions, such as those on Netflix or other platforms. It is also an important, and popular, tool to block Internet surveillance programs for people living under authoritarian regimes such as Russia, China, and Iran.
Using a VPN comes with a caveat, however. Some commercial VPNs log people’s browsing history, which simply shifts data collection from ISPs to VPN manufacturers. This means that the data is not very secure, and that law enforcement can request from a VPN provider as they would from ISPs. Therefore, choosing a A free VPN is usually not a good idea– and some even selling access to your home internet connection. But some VPNs publish no-logging policies and offer third-party analytics and other transparent features in an attempt to demonstrate their compliance.
At this point, it seems that TikTok’s efforts to block US users are very dangerous, and even a non-US SIM card or a SIM card with a VPN would not be a good way to get back to the app with a US TikTok account. But the restrictions may be temporary. In fact, there seems to be no desire to end the ban indefinitely in the US. And, even to initiate an ideaPresident Trump has said in recent days that he they don’t want the program to be banned.
“My opinion on TikTok will be made soon, but I need to have time to review the situation,” Trump said True Social post on Friday. “Listen to yourself!”
