What is the real impact of Donald Trump’s action against TikTok?

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The Trump administration will ban video-sharing app TikTok from U.S. app stores starting Sunday night, a move that will block Americans from downloading or updating the Chinese-owned platform over concerns it poses a national security threat.

Below are questions and answers on what this means for users, the political implications and how this will impact the companies involved.

WILL CURRENT TIKTOK USERS SEE AN IMMEDIATE IMPACT?

Initially, not much. They will not be able to download updates and may miss new features and fixes. But on Nov. 12, the app could become slower or harder to use because American companies will be barred from providing back-end hosting services that help the app function smoothly. TikTok said in a statement Friday those changes would amount to a “ban.”