TikTok isn't fully banned in Italy but faced a major temporary block in 2021 by its data protection authority (Garante) due to serious concerns over child safety, poor data protection for minors, and failure to prevent children from easily bypassing age limits, especially after a young girl's death in a dangerous challenge; recent actions in 2025/2026 also involve potential new age-verification laws and lawsuits targeting TikTok for harming children's mental health and misleading advertising.
The European Parliament, the European Commission, and the EU Council, the three top EU bodies, have all banned TikTok on staff devices, citing cybersecurity concerns. The European Parliament's ban took effect on March 20, 2023.
Using Eurostat's 18+ population baselines and the lower bound of TikTok Ads Manager's reach estimator, Italy's addressable TikTok audience totals 19.72 million accounts. That equals ≈39.4% of Italian adults (18+) or ≈33.4% of the total population when minors are included.
If TikTok is banned, users will likely migrate to established platforms with short-form video features like Instagram Reels, YouTube Shorts, and Snapchat, while newer, TikTok-like apps such as Lemon8, Triller, Clapper, and Xiaohongshu (RedNote) will see significant growth, though apps from TikTok's parent company (ByteDance) like Lemon8 might face scrutiny too. The biggest shift will likely favor platforms with strong algorithms that can replicate TikTok's addictive discovery feed, with creators moving to wherever their audience goes.
While TikTok remains accessible to civilians in most countries, a minority — including India, Iran, China (Foreign app; not Douyin), and Afghanistan — have imposed nationwide bans.
Top 10 Countries by TikTok Usage
United States of America: 136 million active TikTok users. Indonesia: 108 million active TikTok users. Brazil: 91.7 million active TikTok users. Mexico: 85.4 million active TikTok users.
To connect to TikTok with a VPN, download and install a reliable VPN service on your device. Open the VPN app, select a server location, and connect to it. Once connected, you can safely open TikTok.
Reportedly, after White House advisers persuaded him to hold off on banning TikTok outright because of the possible legal and political repercussions, Trump subsequently agreed to put a 45-day hold on any action against TikTok to allow ByteDance to divest the platform to Microsoft or, should a deal with the tech ...
Instagram Reels
Instagram Reels is the most obvious TikTok alternative and one of the more established social media platforms, with three billion monthly active users to TikTok's 1.99 billion.
Italy bans TikTok due of non-compliant processing of data targeting minors. The National Center for Personal Data Protection (NCPDP), for information and application purposes, communicates about the prohibition by the Italian Data Protection Authority – Garante, of personal data processing of TikTok users.
Khabane Serigne "Khaby" Lame (French: [kabi lame], Italian: [ˈkaːbi ˈlaːme]; born 9 March 2000) is a Senegalese and Italian influencer. He is known for his TikTok videos, in which he silently mocks overly complicated "life hack" and other situational videos. As of 2026, he is the most-followed user on TikTok.
Critics, including legal experts and civil liberties advocates, say that the TikTok ban represents government overreach, targeting a single platform based on speculative threats and setting a precedent for restricting speech on national security grounds without clear evidence.
The time spent on TikTok can also impact mental health, triggering conditions like depression and anxiety. Additionally, it can take away from activities or priorities that promote self-improvement, like exercise and interacting with friends and family.
To make $2,000 a month on TikTok, you generally need 10,000 to 50,000 followers, focusing on brand deals, affiliate marketing, and potentially direct creator fund payouts, requiring significant views (millions monthly) and high engagement, with earnings varying greatly by niche and content quality, rather than just follower count.
How much money does 1 million TikTok followers make? TikTok creators with 1 million followers or more can expect to make an average of $1,500 per post for branded content.
1. Charli D'Amelio - Est. Annual Earnings: $17.5M+ Charli D'Amelio still tops the list as the highest-paid TikTok influencer of 2022.
TikTok is still owned by its parent company, ByteDance, a Chinese tech giant, but in late 2025, ByteDance signed a deal to sell majority control of its U.S. operations to an American investor group including Oracle, Silver Lake, and MGX, creating a joint venture to address U.S. national security concerns, with ByteDance retaining a minority stake.
Potential Benefits of a TikTok Ban
If TikTok were banned, there could be significant positive impacts on mental health: Reduced Screen Time: Without the addictive pull of TikTok, users might spend less time on screens and more on activities that promote mental wellness, such as exercise or face-to-face interactions.
If your appeal is approved, we'll unban your account and your data won't be deleted.
First off, consider using a Virtual Private Network (VPN). A VPN allows you to mask your IP address by routing your internet connection through servers located in other countries where TikTok remains operational.
Using VPNs for additional privacy
A virtual private network (VPN) routes your internet traffic through a remote server and encrypts the connection. This hides your real IP address, making it harder for TikTok and advertisers to track your location and online activity based on IP and network data.
A VPN encrypts and masks all of your online traffic. It conceals your IP address, location, and all web activities, including streaming, downloads, and gaming. Besides, a VPN shields your browsing history from your Internet service provider (ISP), websites, online eavesdroppers, and even governmental entities.