The looming ban on TikTok in the US presents a watershed moment for those trapped in a dopamine loop of doom-scrolling “brain rot,” psychologists have said.

Brain rot, the colloquial term for cognitive deterioration from excessive consumption of low-quality online content, particularly the endless feed of short videos revolutionised by TikTok, was voted Oxford Dictionary’s Word of the Year for 2024.

Congress passed a law last April that said TikTok, used by an estimated 170 million people in the US, would be banned unless its China-based parent company, ByteDance, sold off the app within nine months.

TikTok challenged the ban, arguing it infringes the First Amendment of the US constitution which protects free speech, but the Supreme Court on Friday ruled against the Chinese-owned app.

The primary focus of American politicians was to reduce the risk of the Chinese government exploiting TikTok to carry out surveillance, which ByteDance denies, but psychologists have noted that a ban could trigger conversations about social media addiction.

When will the ban happen?

The ban is expected to come into effect on Jan 19, the day before Joe Biden leaves the White House.

The outgoing president said his administration would not enforce the ban, meaning it will be up to Donald Trump to decide whether it goes ahead.