By Ava Bee Masterson
TikTok is an app that has become exceptionally influential to all people across America, especially teenagers. TikTok is full of endless content, provides an opportunity for the average Joe to seek fame and fortune, and is a place to connect and share with others. However, on the night of January 18th, the app was banned for 14 hours, before returning with a thank you message for incoming President Donald Trump. The true cause behind this ban has been incredibly conflicting and confusing between different sources, so what exactly really happened?
In July of 2020, Donald Trump first came out saying he was considering banning the app in retaliation for “China’s alleged mishandling of the COVID-19 pandemic.” So, in short, ever since that point, the idea of a ban has been in and out of the public consciousness, frightening millions of American TikTok users. But, only recently has that idea come out of the realm of theory to be actually implemented, though it wasn’t for very long. In March 2024, the House of Representatives finally passed the TikTok ban-or-sell bill, meaning that if TikTok was not sold to an American company, then it would have to be banned in the US. The US Senate followed suit, eventually passing the bill to former President Biden, which he signed. ByteDance, the Chinese technology company that owns TikTok, sued the U.S. federal government to challenge a law that forced the sale of ByteDance’s stake, saying that the law was unconstitutional. A federal appeals court panel unanimously upheld this law that could lead to the banning of TikTok, handing defeat to the social media platform as it fought for its survival in the U.S. And finally, on January 17, 2025, the Supreme Court upheld the federal law banning TikTok unless it was sold by ByteDance. The ban took effect on the 18th, due to the US government’s concerns over potential user data collection and influence operations by the government of the People’s Republic of China. But now it’s back, so what exactly happened?
Trump passed an executive order telling the US attorney general to not enforce the law for the time being, giving his administration time to “determine the appropriate course of action.” For now, the order creates a situation where the president is directly opposing the ruling made by the Supreme Court, which upheld the law to ban TikTok on January 17th. The ban has not been overturned, simply prolonged, and is planned to take effect again in 75 days if it is still not sold in the US. Technically, Trump could still prolong the ban after that time. He has even said that if it is banned, there would be no repercussions for Google and Apple apps to continue to sell it. This means that the law would remain in place but would essentially be useless. Trump had discussed the possibility of TikTok becoming a joint venture, seeking a 50/50 partnership between ByteDance and the US, effectively disregarding the government’s previous concerns of data tracking. TikTok is still unavailable on the app store in the US, but those who already own the app are able to use it.
The ban shocked many and led people to wonder what would happen in the future. At the moment, there has been talk of the famous YouTuber, Mr. Beast, purchasing the app, along with Elon Musk. ByteDance has said the app is not for sale, but that could potentially change with a new President. For now, all TikTok users can do is wait to see how this plays out and what the current President decides to do with TikTok.