TikTok is a common social platform used across the world and has a plentiful user base in the United States. Within the past few years TikTok has a history of prominent figures trying to have it banned. There have been three separate occasions where the United States government has made moves to ban the app. The most recent of which occurred during the latter half of former President Joe Biden’s term. The app was set to be banned by the end of 2024 if the parent company, ByteDance, didn’t sell. However, this was then pushed until Biden’s presidency was over. So, it comes as a surprise that the app went back online for U.S. users after Donald Trump’s inauguration as the 47th President, given that he pushed for it to be banned the first time during his first term as president.
According to an article from the Associated Press, Trump said in an interview with NBC news that “he was considering granting ByteDance a 90-day extension to sell,” this action would allow him to “make a deal to protect our national security.” Though, the legalities of this have been questioned because federal law states that Executive Orders cannot undo congressional laws, as laws congress passes have higher authority in the legal system. If an Executive Order goes against a law Congress has passed, the congressional law stays in place and the Executive order does not take effect.
This, however, has not stopped the platform from still being accessible in the U.S., which could be in part to TikTok’s CEO, Shou Chew, framing Trump as the one who could save TikTok from its fate. Chew also praised Trump for his efforts to keep it accessible in the United States. “On behalf of everyone at TikTok and all our users across the country, I want to thank President Trump for his commitment to work with us to find a solution that keeps TikTok available in the United States,” Chew said in an article from the Associated Press.
While the fate of TikTok as a platform might seem like something with a small impact, it has a great effect as an app with “170 million users that is especially popular with younger Americans, many of whom spend hours a day on the platform to get news, make money and find entertainment,” according to the Associated Press. Many young people in America use TikTok as a way to see and share things that are occurring in the world at large. Many people, such as third year Winona State University student Ryan Neppl, “get a lot of [their] day the day information from TikTok.” People are notified about things that they would have never seen on the news. They have access to news at a quicker rate than they would otherwise.
As a second-year student, Tanisha Chitseko, puts it “it’s like real-time, real-life news. And you’re seeing people experiencing the things that they’re talking about, versus like a news reporter reporting on something that they’ve heard.”
This initial ban situation has led to some people feeling as though they are being silenced. As one student, Lucia Freund, a third year at Winona State, shared “I think it does infringe on freedom of speech a bit to have it deleted,” Freund said. They also described the action of banning TikTok as similar to fascism due to the apps connection with free speech.
There is also the aspect of people losing jobs, as a number of people make a living on TikTok, from small businesses to individual creators. “They have taken away that income for those small and medium-sized business creators,” Neppl said. This contributes to the greater impact the platform has, and the negatives of taking it away. Should the app end up being completely banned, many people would lose the income that they need. For some TikTok is a more accessible way to make money and is necessary for survival.
TikTok’s overall fate remains uncertain. No one knows whether it will stay unbanned, as is as of Jan. 2025, or if it will be banned once more. However, there is some talk about TikTok being at least partially bought by an American source. Trump was quoted in an Associated Press article that said that this American source would have “a 50% ownership position in a joint venture” that would be “set up between the U.S. and whichever purchase we so choose.” But the details remained murky.” Only time will tell how the whole situation will turn out in the end, and people will have to simply remain hopeful.