Audrey Folia | Head Editor
January 23, 2025
In what has become a debate over free speech vs. data security protection, it was announced in April that TikTok, a popular social media app consisting of short-form videos, would be banned from all U.S. user’s devices over “concerns about the Chinese government’s influence,” specifically with parent company, ByteDance. However, this ban, which many described as the “worst period of their life,” came to a quick resolution when American TikTok users received a message on their phones only 14 hours after alerting them that the app had been unbanned.
The ban is a result of the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Application Act, passed by Congress in 2024. Since the ban was announced, TikTok influencers have been on a downward spiral about what this would mean for their livelihoods, as they make their money through being influencers and have amassed large followings on the app. This resulted in a trend online in which popular TikTokers would quip about how they would make money after the ban, with videos often depicting them asking for jobs at McDonalds or jokingly begging on the streets. Similarly, once the ban disappeared, these same TikTokers joked about how dramatic they were being.
Junior Annabella Laszewski commented on its disappearance yet swift return, likening it to “a toxic parent taking something away just to give it immediately back.” Still, the time in which it was away was revealing for Americans, and many found it to be an eye-opener of our reliance on technology and addiction to short-form content. More controversy surrounded the ban when it occurred at 8:30 PCT on January 19th, while people thought they had until midnight. Junior Cara Gerfin described scrolling through the app and “cherishing the last moments [she] had,” when “suddenly [her] phone was glitchy and [she] could no longer like the videos.” After, in an attempt to “dump the trauma [she] had just experienced,” as she put it, she took part in a popular trend online: downloading RedNote. Essentially, as an act of rebellion against the TikTok ban, many Americans began downloading a true Chinese social media app. But, when TikTok returned, most fled from RedNote.
However, most who are acting relieved over TikTok’s return are overlooking the fact that the executive order signed by Trump is actually a 75-day suspension on the ban and not an actual guarantee that the app will stay. Still, it gives ByteDance more time to find a buyer. As justification for this suspension, Trump remarked, “I guess I have a warm spot for TikTok.” Many individuals called him out for hypocrisy, recalling his attempt to ban the app in 2020 during his first presidency. As a result, there have been suspicions that his true motivation for the suspension was to raise his approval rating. Whether he really does just have a soft spot for TikTok, or if there was some ulterior motive, TikTok now has 75 more days to find a buyer, or the panic that came with the 14-hour ban will become permanent.
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