At about 9:30 pm on Jan. 18, TikTok, the social media platform, went dark on their U.S. servers due to the “TikTok ban”. This caused emotional distress for the millions of Americans that use the app. Until, not even a day later, on Jan. 19 at 11 am the app was up and running again for U.S. citizens.
U.S. Government
TikTok has been a source of controversy in the U.S. for many years now, since President Donald Trump’s first term. This social media app has the government concerned about security and the data of U.S. citizens. This is because Chinese-owned ByteDance is the parent company of TikTok. This raises concerns that the app could potentially be used to steal U.S. citizens data, though there is no evidence for these claims.
In order to “protect American citizens”, the U.S. government put out a new bill that would ban TikTok and potentially other apps as well. The Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act makes it illegal to enable the distribution, maintenance or updating of a foreign adversary-controlled application. The government will fine any app store that carries and provides TikTok to users after the ban.
This decision has been a back-and-forth issue with the government for many years now. This leaves U.S. citizens consistently unsure of whether the app will be there the next day.
Keyla Boateng, ’27, has been using TikTok since it merged with the app Musical.ly in 2018. She showed frustration at the current state of the TikTok ban and the uncertainty of when and if it will happen.
“I don’t know at this point. I don’t know if it’s 90 days, 75 days or if it’s just gonna stay. Who even knows?” said Keyla Boateng, ‘27.
TikTok’s decision
Due to this ban, TikTok made the decision to shut off their U.S. servers two-and-a-half hours before the ban was to take place, cutting off more than 170 million users. American users felt a range of emotions during this time.
“So, it was emotional because I was just getting back all these memories and people were making videos of flashbacks. They were calling it the TikTok finale,” said Keyla Boateng, ‘27.
The app was back online less than 24 hours later displaying a welcome back message thanking President Trump’s effort. President Trump was the first person to propose a ban on the app, back in 2020 when he was in his first presidential term. He has since shown support of the app, especially after the 2024 Presidential Election.
Aftermath of the ban
Since then, President Trump issued an executive order on Jan. 20 delaying the ban for 75 days. This allows the Trump Administration time to determine their course of action on the subject.
Though Trump has extended the deadline, TikTok is still off of app stores on devices in the U.S. American users that deleted the app on Jan. 18, after it was banned, are unable to redownload the app. It is unclear when or if it will return.
The future of TikTok and other foreign controlled applications in the U.S. is unclear. Though many American citizens hope to keep the popular social media app running in their country.
