Here's a closer look at the rise of the platform as it awaits its fate:

- Born in China -

TikTok's meteoric rise from a niche video app to a global social media powerhouse has marked one of the most significant shifts in digital entertainment since the advent of social media.

From teenage dancers to grandmothers sharing cooking tips, TikTok has demonstrated an unprecedented ability to transform ordinary users into global celebrities virtually overnight, revolutionizing the traditional path to stardom.

Originally launched in 2016 by Chinese tech company ByteDance as Douyin for the Chinese market, the international version was named TikTok and released in 2017.

It gained massive momentum after merging with Musical.ly, a lip-synching app, a year later.

- Secret sauce -

The secret sauce to the app's rapid expansion was its innovative recommendation algorithm.

Unlike other social media platforms that primarily showed content from accounts users already follow, TikTok's "For You" page served content based on viewing habits, engagement patterns and sophisticated content analysis.

This means a video from a complete unknown can reach millions of viewers if the algorithm determines it's engaging enough.

Its short-form video format has also played a role in keeping users hooked.

Initially limited to uploads of 15 seconds, this was later expanded to accommodate videos up to 10 minutes long. Uploads as long as 60 minutes are currently being tested.

YouTube (with Shorts) and Instagram (with Reels) have chased its success.

The TikTok interface of users thumb-scrolling through machine recommended content has been widely duplicated, notably on Elon Musk's X (formerly Twitter).

- Influencers -

TikTok's signature feature -- the ability to easily create, edit and share videos -- quickly captured the attention of Generation Z users before spreading to broader demographics.

Its success only grew during the coronavirus pandemic with the world locked at home and desperate for entertainment and shared experience.

By 2021, TikTok had over a billion active users worldwide. It has been downloaded more than three billion times since its creation.

The platform has emerged as a powerful marketing tool and cultural catalyst.

Businesses increasingly leverage TikTok for advertising, while creators -- or influencers -- can monetize their content.

- Political suspicions -

TikTok's power to direct mass attention means its rise hasn't been without controversy, mainly for its Chinese ownership and the site's built-in unpredictability.

The platform has faced intense scrutiny from governments worldwide, particularly in the United States, over concerns about data privacy and potential ties to the Chinese government -- including accusations of spying and acting as a tool of propaganda.

In 2020, India permanently banned TikTok along with other Chinese apps citing national security concerns.

And in Romania, authorities believe an influence campaign orchestrated from Moscow through platforms including TikTok helped far-right candidate Calin Georgescu to take the lead in the first round of the nation's presidential election.

The vote must now be re-run after being cancelled by the country's Constitutional Court between the two rounds, while the European Commission has opened an investigation into TikTok's recommendation systems.

- Fears for teenagers -

Other jurisdictions have seen expressions of fears about TikTok's potential effects on young users, with accusations it funnels them into echo chambers and fails to contain illegal, violent or obscene content.

Australia notably banned access to social media for all under-16s late last year, in one of the strictest such measures anywhere in the world.

In France a group of families is taking legal action against TikTok, accusing the network of showing their children content that could have encouraged them to commit suicide.

And in late December, Venezuela fined the company $10 million for "negligence" over the deaths of three teenagers participating in a dangerous challenge spread via its platform.

TikTok last year withdrew a programme in its TikTok Lite app that rewarded users based on how much time they spent using it.

The EU Commission had opened a probe after backlash to the app's launch in France and Spain, saying it saw potential "very addictive consequences".

- Sell or be banned -

In the US, Donald Trump's first administration attempted to force a sale of TikTok's US operations to American companies.

TikTok now faces a January 19 deadline in the US to lose its Chinese ownership or be banned from app stores.

Trump has since asked the Supreme Court to delay the cutoff date as he tries to find an alternative solution.