On Jan. 18, 170 million people in the United States temporarily lost access to the widely used social media app, TikTok.
Throughout the political world, there have been ongoing concerns about TikTok’s access to American data. This is mainly due to the fact that TikTok is a Chinese-owned company, which has incited fear surrounding American data being sold to the Chinese communist government.
Due to these concerns, On April 24, 2024, Joe Biden passed legislation which ordered ByteDance, the company that owns TikTok, “to sell to a U.S. owner within a year or to shut down.”
ByteDance retaliated against this order by suing the U.S. government, claiming that banning the app was a direct violation of first amendment rights, which protects U.S. citizens freedom of speech.
Preceding the nationwide blackout, there was debate concerning whether or not the Supreme Court would follow through with their decision to order TikTok to shut down their services in the United States. On Jan. 17, members of the Supreme Court collectively decided to enact the federal law that ordered TikTok to make its app unavailable throughout the United States.
This decision sparked a lot of controversy from outraged and saddened users who expressed their love and admiration for the app. A lot of users who were members of TikTok creator fun, as well as small business owners who used the app to promote their products, expressed anxiety as they prepared to lose a source of income.
Leading up to the TikTok ban, Donald Trump shared his desire to preserve the app and keep its services available for the U.S users. This reaction was unexpected, however, considering in his previous term, he was in support of the ban being upheld. Nevertheless, he asked the Supreme Court to put a pause on the apps ban until he held office, as he felt it was his duty to protect America’s first amendment rights. He also said that banning TikTok would “[set] a ‘dangerous global precedent’ for government censorship.”
Although the Supreme Court seemed to be unaffected by Trump’s pleas, the fate of the app took a swift turn. Preceding the upcoming ban, the CEO of TikTok, Shou Chew, posted a video to the app thanking President Trump for his cooperation and efforts to get the app back and running in the U.S.
Days later, the app went dark with the following message appearing to all of its American users:
“A law banning TikTok has been enacted in the U.S. Unfortunately, that means you can’t use TikTok for now. We are fortunate that President Trump has indicated that he will work with us on a solution to reinstate TikTok once he takes office. Please stay tuned!”
The following morning, a newly-inaugurated President Trump signed an executive order reinstating TikTok’s services in the U.S. for 75 days, ending on April 5.
TikTok was banned for a matter of hours before a new message appeared to its users: “Thanks for your patience and support. As a result of President Trump’s efforts, TikTok is back in the U.S! You can continue to create, share, and discover all the things you love on TikTok.”
While many users thanked Trump for his actions to put a pause on the TikTok ban, many people also felt that his efforts may have been rooted in manipulation.
TikToks’s final messages to its users have “[bred] conspiracy theories” across social media platforms. Members of democratic and liberal parties have questioned the unprofessionalism of directly thanking President Trump instead of simply explaining that its services were down in the U.S.
For certain users, it is in the belief that Trump used the situation to appear as if he was “saving’ an app his administration originally moved to ban,” ultimately making the Republican Party and himself look good as a result. This would put him in good favor with young people, who make up a majority of the apps users.
Moving forward, it seems that the ultimate method of protecting TikTok in the United States would be a joint venture between ByteDance and a U.S. owned company. Although Trump’s executive order does not necessarily prevent the ban from being upheld, it is within his power to allow the app to continue being available in the App Store after the 75 day hold.
At the moment, ByteDance has been adamant in being unwilling to sell its company to U.S. holders. However, many companies are open to buying the app and the companies alliance with President Trump may ultimately change their decision to sell the app.