“Even VPNs don’t lead to circumvention” in India, Gosain told WIRED.

In the early hours of the US ban, it was unclear how feasible it would be to get around the bans on US accounts. It looks like TikTok has taken a more extreme approach, blacking out any US builds of the app—the versions of the TikTok app software that were made for US users to download and use are black. Also accounts linked to the US are blocked regardless of IP address or SIM country information.

Running a VPN alone is definitely not enough to avoid the ban and get back on TikTok. But it seems that using a non-US TikTok account after removing a SIM (or on a device without a US SIM card / US phone number) works when combined with a VPN. Similarly, using a VPN with a desktop browser or the Tor Browser is enough to get a non-US TikTok account to load in the US early Sunday morning, although the desktop version of TikTok is always better. 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 explained, of the restrictions in India. “Also, the TikTok app takes the country information entered in the SIM card, and if the country code is ‘IN,’ it filters the network connection. If we remove the SIM card, the TikTok app fails to recognize 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. Thus, TikTok also failed to recognize that the user was accessing from India. This is how we bypass the filter.”

Virtual private network, or VPNwork by forwarding your internet traffic through servers physically maintained in locations around the world, so you can choose an IP address tied to a different location than where you are physically. For example, American TikTok users can use VPNs to make it look like they are accessing the internet from outside the US. VPNs also stop your internet service provider (ISP) from seeing your browsing data, adding an additional potential layer of privacy. If you use a VPN, your ISP can only see VPN connections instead of having access to a detailed list of all the websites you visit.

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

Using a VPN has caveats, however. Some commercial VPNs log people’s browsing history, essentially shifting data collection from ISPs to VPN makers. This means that data is not more protected, and that law enforcement can request it from a VPN provider in the same way that they request ISPs. As a result, the choice of a A free VPN is generally not a good idea—with some even sells 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 demonstrate their compliance.

At the moment, it seems that TikTok’s efforts to block US users are too draconian, and even a non-US SIM card or no SIM card and a VPN may not be a viable way to get back into the app. using a US TikTok account. But the restrictions may only be temporary. In practice, there seems to be little appetite for a permanent US ban. And, in spite of origin of the ideaPresident Trump said in recent days that he don’t want the app to be banned.

“My decision on TikTok will be made in the not-too-distant future, but I need to have time to review the situation,” Trump said in a Truth Social post on Friday. “Watch out!”