📲😅 Tick tock, TikTok

It’s Thursday, Boston.

🐻 Here’s a deal you don’t see every day: South Street Diner is offering 10% off to any customer who comes in costume until Jan. 19. The promo is technically aimed at attendees of this weekend’s furry convention … but you can get the discount with any costume — furry or otherwise. 

🥳 And a very happy birthday to B-Sider Madison McGlone! Thanks for holding down the B-Side fan club all the way in Florida — a true newsletter stan (and bestie) since day one. <3

👀 What’s on tap today:

• Shelter changes on deck

• Boston’s potential soda tax

• T-Swift’s R.I. home reno

Up first…

TIKTOK BAN

What to know about the TikTok ban

Say R.I.P. to your FYP. TikTok’s Jan. 19 ban is fast approaching, and its fate is looking grim. 

Here’s what to know and how to prepare:

🥲 Wait, TikTok is being banned? Where have you been? Last spring, President Joe Biden signed a law that would ban the app in the U.S. unless it was sold by its Chinese-owned parent company, ByteDance (spoiler: it wasn’t). Why? The federal government has national security concerns about the app because it gives the Chinese government access to American data, which could be used to influence users. That said, there are some legit worries about whether these concerns are overblown or worth the cost of losing the platform.

✋ Could someone stop this before it happens? Technically, yes. The Supreme Court heard arguments from ByteDance on Jan. 10, and could issue a decision at any moment (FWIW, things aren’t looking great for TikTok). Incoming President Donald Trump seems to be (newly) interested in preserving the app, and theoretically could work around the ban. But the options aren’t cut and dry. And on Tuesday, three lawmakers, including Sen. Ed Markey, introduced a Hail Mary last-minute bill to try and delay the ban.

📝 It’s also worth noting that several billionaires (including Elon Musk) are interested in buying the app’s U.S. assets. 

📲 What happens if the ban is upheld? It would be removed from the app stores, so no one could download or update it. Anyone who already has TikTok on their phone should be able to keep using it, according to Elettra Bietti, a professor of law and computer science at Northeastern. But the app could become slow and buggy without updates, making it more unstable over time.

🤷 How can I prepare for the ban? Creators are calling for users to follow their faves on other platforms, like IG and YouTube. If you’re worried about your saved videos, you can find a tutorial to download them here. Some people are swarming other TikTok-like apps, including ByteDance’s Lemon8 (which could also be banned, BTW), Clapper, and Red Note. Others are considering using VPNs to keep accessing TikTok, but those could be shut down if they get too popular.

🧑‍💻 What do creators think? Unsurprisingly, many aren’t thrilled. After all, one-third of U.S. adults use the app, and many rely on it to make a living. Local TikTok creator Traci Walcott thinks the ban overlooks the app’s cultural, social, and economic value: “The value of TikTok is so much bigger than [the privacy concerns],” she said, “me included, a lot of people are gonna feel the loss of it if it's banned.” 

QUICK QUESTION!

📲 How do you feel about the potential ban?

TOGETHER WITH MONTRÉAL EN LUMIÈRE

Winter in Montréal isn’t cold — it’s cool

❄️ ✨ Looking to turn your winter plans from “meh” to magnifique? Grab your passport and head to Montréal en Lumière from Feb. 27 to March 9 for one of the biggest winter festivals in the world. Sip, savor, and say “oui” to exclusive meals from Air France Finest Tables, glide above the crowd on the Loto-Québec skating loop, and stay up till sunrise at a Nuit Blanche. With over 100 free activities, live shows, and a Ferris wheel view worthy of an “ooh la la,” the possibilities are endless. Plan your visit today.

CITY

Quick & dirty headlines

🏚️ Gov. Maura Healey wants to overhaul Mass.’ right to shelter law. On Wednesday, Healey asked state legislators to make some massive changes to the law. Her move follows Republican lawmakers dropping their own proposal following a string of safety concerns in state shelters. Healey’s changes include implementing new residency requirements and requiring all applicants prove their lawful presence in the U.S. (with some exceptions). She said the changes will “ensure” safety and tighten up the shelters’ operating costs, but some housing advocates aren’t happy. We’ll likely hear more about it in her State of the Commonwealth Address tonight.

🥤 This city councilor wants to tax your soda. Councilor Sharon Durkan proposed a “Sugar-Sweetened Beverage Tax,” of two cents per ounce on sugary drinks in Boston — that’s about 24 cents on a can of Coke. Durkan said it would generate $20 million to $30 million in revenue every year that could be allocated to food literacy programs, youth sports, or … literally anything else! This convo is just a first step in a long road to implementation (a similar measure failed in 2017), but hey, you gotta start somewhere.

🐦 Bird flus, quad-demics, and colds, oh my! Recently, talk of a quad-demic (that’s COVID, the flu, RSV, and norovirus) has been circulating as all four illnesses are spiking around much of the country. Long story short, they’re all very contagious, and you should double down on hand washing and masking if need be. The good news: You’ll be happy to know that, according to local experts, you probably don’t need to add “panic about the potential for a bird flu pandemic” to your plate. 

👑 Harvard’s Hasty Pudding has crowned its man of the year. And that man is … Jon Hamm! Hamm will be shipping up to Cambridge on Jan. 31 where he’ll receive his award, attend a celebratory roast in his honor (the rude kind, not the eating kind), and watch Hasty Pudding’s annual production. No idea what that means? Hasty Pudding Theatricals is a theatre group at Harvard which annually crowns a man and woman of the year for a day of silliness and revelry. Last year’s winner was Barry Keoghan, now-ex of Sabrina Carpenter.

ONE LAST THING

Taylor Swift’s R.I. reno

Taylor Swift’s iconic Rhode Island home is going under the knife. According to a building permit filed in the Town of Westerly, Swift is planning on remodeling the house's kitchen, adding new bathrooms, and building a new addition. 

You might think this doesn't sound like huge news (and you’d be right), but this home does have some significant Swiftie lore: Its previous owner was the inspo for banger “the last great american dynasty,” it’s the place where Swift throws her annual Fourth of July party (which produced this very important picture), and it’s the home she lent to Gigi Hadid and Bradley Cooper where they could “spend time exploring a budding romance.” Gross!

All told, the work should come in at around $1.7 million — basically a drop in the bucket for the billionaire. 

— Written by Gia Orsino and Emily Schario

🏠 Thanks for reading! We’ll take any excuse to think about Swift’s Tom Hiddleston era. 

💜 Special shoutout to today’s sponsor, Montréal en Lumière, for supporting local journalism and making winter 2025 très exceptionnel.

💸 The results are in: 39% of B-Siders said that they’d tip about a dollar for a cup of coffee or a latte, with almost as many saying they wouldn’t tip at all. One reader said: “I used to throw my extra change in the tip jar. Now I customize to do the same.”

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