After weeks of people freaking out about the official TikTok ban on January 18th of 2025, with influencers posting old TikToks’ from when they were younger, people admitting secrets, and friendships rekindling. The app is back up and running only 12 hours later, but why?
The TikTok ban saga began with concern over data privacy and national security. This threat of a ban is not just hitting the United States. Many governments have expressed concerns about the app and have even banned it in their own countries. The app owned by a Chinese company, ByteDance, allegedly sells data of TikTok users to the Chinese government, leading to concern for the U.S. Government. This situation saw numerous legal challenges and negotiations over years of worry from President Donald Trump and former President Joe Biden, leading to the app’s ban today. Ultimately, TikTok continues to operate while measures are being made to conclude the deeper problem of the spread of data.
TikTok’s CEO, Chou Zi Chew, allegedly teamed up with the President, Donald Trump, to take back TikTok. In a note when TikTok was returned, saying “Welcome back! 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!”
Although it only being the day before his Inauguration it’s said that Trump signed an executive order giving TikTok an extra 75 days to comply with the law on January 20th, 2025.
With TikTok coming back, some people stayed while some moved on. Apps like Rednote and Instagram were rushed, Rednote with the same concept as TikTok having a predominantly Chinese audience, and Instagram for the reels. Many were not impressed as it didn’t give them the same feeling of obsession that TikTok did and many went on to complain on TikTok about how “boring” it was after its reappearance.
Unfortunately, the people who gave up and deleted the app after going dark will not be able to re-download it and therefore forced to move onto a different app. This is because the law is still enacted just postponed so the app store can not legally keep it for people to download. Some creators are logging into old phones, or iPads to access TikTok, not addicted at all!
Most TikTokers have moved on from the ban although many had trouble moving on from it. Politically it has not been brought up but many have conspiracy theories like that Elon Musk, owner of Twitter, Tesla, and a lot of others, bought the app, another is that someone from Meta, the Social Metaverse Company, owned Mark Zuckerberg, and led by Nick Clegg, Susan Li, Javier Olivan, etc. also has bought the app. No one has come out claiming the app or explaining what happened behind closed doors.
On further notice, TikTok is back and here to stay until we are surprised, again!
