Feb. 6, 2025
By Daniel Hummell
Staff Writer
The United States government has been trying to ban TikTok since the end of President Donald Trump’s first administration in 2020-2021. The talks to ban the popular social media platform owned by China-based media and technology company ByteDance were amplified in April to either ban the app or divest it from ByteDance2024, when the U.S. House of Representatives voted 360-58 for the app to either be banned or divested from ByteDance in April 2024. The Senate passed the bill with a vote of 79-18.
The Supreme Court upheld the ban on Jan. 17. The ban was set to take effect on Jan. 19, just one day before Trump’s inauguration. However, Trump announced on Jan. 18 that he would sign an executive order reversing the ban. His post read: “I will issue an executive order on Monday to extend the period before the law’s prohibitions take effect so that we can make a deal to protect our national security,” he said in a post on his social media app Truth Social, which he launched in 2021 as an alternative to Twitter, now known as X.
TikTok went dark in the United States a few hours before the scheduled ban. Upon entering the app, a message read, “We are fortunate that President Trump has indicated that he will work with us on a solution to reinstate TikTok once he takes office.” After roughly 12 hours, TikTok resumed its services and posted another message saying, “As a result of President Trump’s efforts, TikTok is back in the U.S.!”
It was a mistake for the U.S. government to shut down TikTok because the ban caused many people to panic.
The app’s future remains in jeopardy, as ByteDance has publicly expressed its dissatisfaction with selling it. Trump, who uses TikTok, gave the app a 75-day extension to sell. However, the app remains unavailable for download.
Trump’s revival of the app served as a successful publicity stunt for him and his administration. TikTok painted Trump as a savior, even though he had tried to ban the app himself. TikTok also did not have to act dramatically by shutting itself down hours before the ban was required to take effect.
It was a mistake for the U.S. government to shut down TikTok because the ban caused many people to panic. Influencers use TikTok as their livelihood, and many promote their small businesses and any sponsorships they may have. It would have been a catastrophe for those people if TikTok were permanently inaccessible. They would have had to find another way to promote themselves and could even need to find a new job.
Hopefully, when Trump’s executive order ends on April 5, TikTok will be sold. If ByteDance wants TikTok to continue operating in the United States, it should comply with the government’s orders.
