75 Days to Work Out a Deal — Is TikTok’s Time Ticking Down?
TikTok, a widely popular social media platform with more than a billion global users, faced a temporary ban, but is now accessible to users and back in the App Store. So how, and why, can an app with so many users and such digital significance amongst younger generations be banned in the U.S?
In June of 2019, Hong Kong held pro-democracy protests, later turning into a deeper call for political reform. Photos and videos of the conflict flooded every social media platform — except one. Many TikTok videos were posted about these protests, yet none of the TikTok videos mentioning the protests were pushed out to viewers.
TikTok moderators were instructed to censor any videos mentioning Tiananmen Square, Tibetan independence, as well as other key words that are said to go against Beijing’s political objectives.
In that same year, ByteDance, the company that owns TikTok, had to pay a 5.7 million dollar fine due to a violation of U.S. child-privacy laws. TikTok knowingly allowed kids under the age of 13 to have a TikTok account without requiring parent/guardian permission.
The user information collected and retained from children includes names, email addresses, phone numbers, facial recognition from posted videos, location information and device data (search habits, IP addresses and the type of device being used).
TikTok still collects this information from all users above the age of 13, and are able to sell that information to 3rd party companies. Collecting and selling information isn’t exactly a rarity when it comes to social media apps, but most of these apps are owned by American companies. TikTok being a chinese-owned company poses a potential national security threat, especially due to an increase in distrust after China’s 2017 National Intelligence Law required companies to help gather intelligence at the government’s request.
ByteDance refused to sell TikTok to a U.S government approved buyer, which is what caused TikTok to go dark. Trump signed an executive order on Jan. 20 to temporarily lift the ban, giving him 75 days to work out a deal.
While the Supreme Court is still questioning their opinions on the TikTok ban, many people have already made up their minds. A common belief is that the ban is restrictive and therefore should not be in place.
“The main question is whether it’s a free speech issue or a government oversight issue and whether it’s a power the government should have to limit people’s access to something like TikTok,” Declan Holmes, a site sub, said.
“I know that the concerns were data and other foreign countries having our data, but those are the same concerns with the entities here, and what are they doing with your data?” English teacher Chris Humenik said. “It’s the exact same problem, it’s just not in a foreign country.”
Senior Mircea Nemes does not believe that it violates our first amendment rights because of the many other short video platforms, but he has another reason for it to not be banned.
“I don’t think that TikTok should be banned because I believe that it is an oversight of government power,” Nemes said. “Removing it threatens a livelihood for many, and a source of entertainment for many more.”
Influencers were a big concern with the ban, because for many, TikTok is their only source of income, and they may not have the education or experience to find something else.
“I don’t think it should be banned because it’s how people make money, and it’s their only job, so if they get rid of TikTok they would have to find a new job,” sophomore Jenna Kabban said.
“I don’t think TikTok should be banned because it provides income for so many people,” junior Stella King said. “Many people rely on TikTok to promote their businesses and brands. Even celebrities use TikTok to promote albums and/or movies.”
While TikTok may not always be a reliable source of information, King said it’s been very useful for her. “If I ever have a question, more often than not, I search it on TikTok rather than Google because I know I will get a more genuine and relevant answer.”
Many people use TikTok when they need honest reviews on products or tutorials. The STEM section has also been useful to students learning new topics or preparing for an exam.
That being said, many people believe that the decision to ban TikTok was justified.
Senior Mark McLean believes that TikTok poses a threat to our government and national security.
“The app is owned by the Chinese company ByteDance, which has close ties to the Chinese Communist party, the United States’ adversary,” McLean said. “There are also many instances of TikTok collecting people’s sensitive personal information which is a big no-no.”
Mclean also states that because of this, government officials aren’t allowed to have TikTok on their phones.
“I think it should be banned because people spend too much time on it; the trends are brain-rotting and unhealthy, and Reels are better,” senior Alex Greco said.
With the fear of losing the app, some have switched over to Instagram Reels, and many people prefer Instagram to TikTok.
Senior Bradley Stine said, while he has TikTok, he only uses it in specific instances. “Instagram Reels is just better in every aspect, and I can really just feel the dopamine when I’m doomscrolling for hours more than on TikTok.”
While many have their own opinions on the fate of TikTok, there are many reasons to keep it and many reasons it should be banned.
“I also think the app is straight up horrendous psychologically,” Stine said. “I think in the long run, the banning of the app will hopefully reduce the unhealthy habits of people scrolling mindlessly all day.”
Complaints started pouring in on the night of Jan. 19, marking the official beginning of the ban on TikTok. TikTok users around the world flocked to alternate platforms to protest against the notification that popped up on the app when they were participating in their nightly scroll. The message was clear: you can’t use TikTok now, but Donald Trump is interested in reinstating the app, so hold tight.
This is the result of ByteDance’s loss against the U.S. government in the Supreme Court to halt the bill that required them to sell TikTok to an American buyer, or lose their consumers in the U.S.
However, after a brief but panicked 12 hours, TikTok began functioning again, shortly after Trump pledged to bring it back. He promised to sign an executive order to delay the ban for 75 days shortly after his return to office.
After ByteDance’s fierce resistance against the bill that spelled its demise in the hands, or phones, of America, the Supreme Court ruled to uphold the ban.
The results of this case is a win for national security, yet a new restriction on the boundaries of free speech.
In the years since the emergence of the internet and social media, a hands-off approach has been the majority of internet regulation. Section 230, a significant but short section of the law, grants immunity to online platforms for holding responsibility for their user’s actions. Basically, the platforms (Instagram, X, or any online platform) are not accountable for what people say, do or how they interact. Speech from users is separate, and unrelatable, to the speech of the platform and the people who run it.
While this might not have been fundamentally changed by this court ruling, I understand this case to introduce a new interpretation of Section 230. ByteDance based their case against the U.S. government by claiming protection under the First Amendment. By denying this right to ByteDance, the question becomes one of principle: if the government doesn’t grant a platform like TikTok free speech, then what does that mean for the immunity of the platform’s base, and most importantly, the people who post freely on it?
Additionally, there have been accusations that anti-Israel sentiments on the platform hurried Congress toward passing the legislation. Whether or not that is true, it still proves that the American public is questioning whether speech is fully free on online platforms. It calls into question the power of the government over speech on platforms.
So the frantic energy around the TikTok ban comes down to this: if the government is unhappy with expansive free speech on a certain platform, what’s preventing them from getting rid of it?
Ultimately, if the threat of punishment for displeasing speech on the internet is real, then that means our interaction with online platforms and fellow users on it will drastically change. Social media companies could become stringent on what is allowed to be posted, and censorship may become prominent just to defend their network against push-back from the government. A controversial opinion that goes viral may challenge a platform’s credibility in the eyes of the government. A devil’s advocate approach could become threatening to the user’s right to opinion on their platform of choice.
There are an unlimited number of ways limited speech can deny the right to free speech if not kept in check, and it may all be triggered by the plummet of TikTok.
The 14-hour TikTok “ban” on Jan 20. and the app’s future in America is just one issue part of the complex and multifaceted relations between the globe’s largest competitors for technological hegemony: The United States and China. To understand TikTok’s future, as well as its rocky history in America dating back to its origins as “Musical.ly,” it is only necessary to gain a foundation of both countries’ imperatives and national interests.
TikTok’s past and present
Musical.ly, The lip-syncing app and predecessor to TikTok, was launched by Shanghai tech giants Alex Zhu and Luyu Yang in 2014. Two years later, Chinese tech company ByteDance bought Musical.ly and merged it with Douyin, their own short-video platform. TikTok is the international version of Douyin, and under ByteDance, TikTok now had the element of an algorithm tailored to one’s feed, or in their words, a “Foryou page.”
In 2018, TikTok was released in America and made waves in domestic markets. The app currently boasts a user base of over 170 million in the US alone.
Since its initial release in America, TikTok’s chinese parent company and the app’s booming presence has always been a breeding ground for national security concerns. These concerns became even more apparent with Trump’s initial, but empty, pledge to ban the app in 2020.
By 2024, the national security implications of China being able to steal American userdata manifested into law when Biden signed on a national ban last April.
And just as the country was bracing for this ban, as it was set to take place six months after Biden’s signing, Trump came to the rescue days before his second inauguration by pledging an executive order that would delay the app’s disappearance by 75 days. Still following the guidelines of Biden’s law, Trump’s EO would allow more time to figure out another way to settle this issue without stripping Americans of their beloved app.
Despite Biden and Congress’ efforts to ban the app last year, TikTok under the new Trump Administration is unlikely to foresee this ban as I see it. President Trump’s statement after the phone call negotiation with Xi Jinping further confirms the likelihood of the app’s stay, as he wrote on Truth Social, describing the talks as “A very good one for both China and the U.S.A.”
TikTok amidst an Chinese-American Tech Race
The United States and China have been global competitors since China’s economic boom of rapid growth in the late 80s. However, a technological front of both countries’ tensions started in 2017 with imposed tariffs and export controls. AI’s emergence and rapid advancements have also been at the forefront of the both countries’ interdependence and competition regarding technology.
Aside from the national security concerns, the addictive algorithm created by ByteDance present in Douyin/TikTok also presents an upper hand that American tech companies are yet to surpass.
And the fact that our technological rival, and main adversary overall, would have access to American user data through the very same app speaks volumes. As made apparent by Congress, Biden, and initially Trump, ByteDance being a Chinese company allows the CCP access to American user-data.
How exactly? Chinese law allows for the CCP to demand that many companies, ByteDance included, turn over their data for the purpose of collecting intelligence.
All in all, it makes sense why this was such a concern to our national security, and the added component of China being our largest economic and technological competitor, adds to the tensions of TikTok existing in the United States
About the negotiations, why might they have gone well for Trump?
During the negotiations, TikTok was not the only present topic. All things regarding American-Chinese relations were on the line, making it plausible that the TikTok issue could have been used as political leverage for other more prominent issues such as trade and the on-going tariff war. Given that ownership of TikTok is an exhausted issue for China, their main focus would be to seal adequate trading relations for their spiraling economy.
It is clear that negotiations between both leaders have seemed to land the ball in America’s court regarding China’s ownership over the platform, so a future for joint or complete American ownership over TikTok instead of ByteDance is a possible fate. In terms of the tech aspect, TikTok is no longer the most cutting edge piece of technology for China.
Why?
Chinese tech companies have been revving up their AI capabilities, as seen with Deep Seek: A Chat-GPT adjacent platform performing much faster on much cheaper chips. This gives China a one-up in regards to AI, putting the America’s Chat GPT and overall AI companies worried about such an advancement. Not to mention, Deep Seek presents its own set of national security concerns as it is present in the United States, but that’s a topic all on its own.
The other factor involves Trump as a leader and negotiator himself. Trump is known to incorporate a business-man approach to foreign policy and negotiations. And compared to Biden, many would deem Trump a sharper deal maker.
Trump’s hardline approach offers him some credibility and a bit of an edge when it comes to how other leaders and foreign entities will view him. We can see this through his threats of leaving NATO to get member-states to pay their share and even his initiation of a tariff war.
Why did Trump do it?
It seems Trump is trying to kill two birds with one stone: Resolve TikTok’s national security concerns whilst keeping the platform that is so beloved to his country. According to him, his efforts so far have been effective at achieving just this.
Why Trump sought to shield TikTok from its intended ban can be explained from the global perspective between the US and China: Obtaining TikTok away from ByteDance can be used as leverage over other issues between the two countries during negotiations. Setting the TikTok issue to rest through proposed bilateral ownership allows for American users to not fully be susceptible to data breaches from China at the same extent.
On an individual level, Trump resurrecting an app pivotal to American pop-culture is a boost to his own public support, satisfying the masses at a national and, ideally, bipartisan level.
On Jan. 17, the Supreme Court unanimously held that a TikTok ban, challenged by many for its conflicts with the First Amendment, was constitutional and would go into effect on Jan. 19.
A few hours before midnight on Jan. 19, American users received a notification screen stating the app would be unavailable in the U.S., but they are working with President Donald Trump to fix the issue.
But lo and behold, not even 14 hours later, TikTok magically came back online for Americans. What’s up with the app’s temporary closure? Well, on Monday, Trump’s first day in office for the second time now, The President issued an executive order telling the Department of Justice not to enforce the ban for another 75 days, while he continues to work closely with TikTok and their CEO, Shou Zi Chew, and China as a whole in bilateral negotiations.
So is TikTok actually banned or not? Well, it’s a little bit hazy. Technically, the law upheld by the Supreme Court, banning the app if not sold to a different company, is still in effect.
TikTok’s parent company ByteDance, has repeatedly affirmed they will not sell the app, so the details of this so-called “negotiation” are a little unclear.
So will TikTok be fully functional now? It depends. Apple and Google originally removed it from their sites, likely due to fear of legal fines. At the time, they would’ve faced a $5,000 fine per person they assisted in using the app.
Apple and Google have returned the option to download TikTok to their respective app stores. But it’s still a very real possibility it will disappear again if Trump can’t come up with a permanent solution.
Most likely, the only solution to come out of Trump’s extension is for ByteDance to sell to another company. While initially unlikely, Trump seems keen on this route. More pressing issues such as trade and tech may sway the Chinese company to accept a deal.
So what’s the next big social media app for the self-named “TikTok refugees” to hop over to if the app is completely banned in the future? Well, there’s been many apps up for discussion.
The biggest (and most controversial) option is Xiaohongshu, or RedNote. This is essentially the Chinese version of TikTok. With China’s limited free speech protections, TikTok is banned for Chinese citizens. Most users speak in Mandarin on the app, and the fact that Americans are turning to this app with Chinese media laws has become a humorous sentiment, especially with the free speech dilemma.
With the bulk of RedNote’s users being Chinese, they have been surprisingly welcoming to Americans. Various chinese users have begun posting videos teaching basic Mandarin, or simply putting English subtitles in their videos. Still, there is an inevitable cultural disconnect for Americans. Chinese-Americans have begun to criticize Americans coming to RedNote, with some under a presumption that English subtitles should be used throughout the platform.
The simpler option is the well-known Instagram Reels, which features a very similar video creation process to TikTok, with a similar way to add sounds, filters and text.
Most TikTok users have used Reels in their lifetime, and videos by content creators are often simultaneously posted across both platforms. But being integrated with Instagram takes away the idea of being solely a video-sharing app, which was much of the appeal for TikTok. Still, it’s a solid option.
Lemon8 has also entered the discussion, functioning as a sort-of blend between Instagram, TikTok and Pinterest. However, Lemon8 is also owned by ByteDance, so if TikTok becomes unavailable again, Lemon8 will certainly fall into the same boat.
In sharing the same parent company as TikTok, the national security implications are also still present with Lemon8. Lemon 8’s fate and possible closure will mirror that of TikTok, stopping it from being the permanent option American users are searching for after TikTok.
However, even if it wasn’t owned by ByteDance, Lemon8 leans much more towards the area of lifestyle and healthy tips, not humor, which, for many, is the main reason they use TikTok.
At the end of the day, you can take great comfort from knowing that there will be another app if TikTok shuts down in the United States. Think of previous apps that went away which thought we couldn’t live without, Vine and Musical.ly to name a couple.
TikTok is following the incredibly appropriate path that it endorses – quick hits, fast moving trends, an ever-circulating feed and the comfort of knowing that something else will come up. Even if we lost TikTok, we won’t lose short form content; it has expanded into other apps now. We may lose the app in name, but not in the content it offers.
We will look back at TikTok in the same way we did with Vine, with fond memories, but knowing we’ve moved onto bigger and better things. Although old apps are looked at with nostalgia, the general consensus among social media users is that TikTok is the best app we’ve come across so far – but that wasn’t the original sentiment when it switched over from Musical.ly. Humans are bound to be initially resistant to change, but it’s the only way for our digital environment to adjust to our ever changing society.
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