The great TikTok publicity stunt
The TikTok ban kicked in on January 19, 2025, and it was removed from app stores across the United States. Users were greeted with a “Sorry, TikTok isn’t available right now” message with two options: learn more or close the app, going on to say, “We are fortunate that President Trump has indicated that he will work with us on a solution to reinstate TikTok once he takes office. Please Stay Tuned.”
Less than 24 hours later, TikTok was available again with the message “Welcome Back! Thanks for your patience and support. As a result of President Trump’s efforts, TikTok is back in the US!” In my opinion, this is a coordinated effort between the Trump administration and TikTok to try to create support from the youth, making him out to be the guy who saved TikTok, painting the Democrats as the bad guys, despite bipartisan agreement in Congress, and being upheld by the conservative super majority SCOTUS.
Let’s be clear: TikTok did not have to close down the service, and people with the app installed could still use it until an update was required. It was TikTok themselves who decided to stop people from using the app, pushing the notification above to its 170 million US users. This was not a legal requirement, and it looks like it could have backfired, as many users uninstalled the app, thinking it was banned.
President Donald Trump signed an executive order extending the deadline for TikTok to be sold by 75 days on inauguration day, touting a 50/50 US/Chinese owned solution, which might not satisfy the law, as Bytedance has to divest from TikTok’s US operations. However, several days have passed, and TikTok is still unavailable for download or updating on the Google Play Store or the Apple App Store. I guess they believe that an act of Congress and a US Supreme Court ruling ‘trumps’ an executive order.
Trump may instruct his Justice Department not to enforce the ban, but companies like Google and Apple could still face penalties later if they allow the app back in their stores. Despite non-enforcement, TikTok will still be illegal, as the law was passed by Congress and signed into law by former President Biden.
Also, let’s not forget that Donald Trump started this whole thought process in 2020 during his first term, going as far as signing an executive order banning TikTok in the United States. He wanted to ban TikTok for the same reason Congress passed legislation in 2024: Chinese owned TikTok is a national security risk.
I personally don’t have a dog in the fight. I have never used TikTok and will never use it. However, I do not like the idea that any country’s government can force the sale of a business because it does not like the nationality of the current ownership in order for it to continue operating in said country.