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The TikTok Ban: Everything That's Happened So Far.
By: Anagha Aravind
For weeks Americans have been dreading the U.S. TikTok ban. It was to be enacted on Jan. 19th, 2025, and, as expected, the app went dark a few hours before midnight on Jan. 18th.
The impending TikTok ban caused its American users to scatter to the winds. Many migrated to Instagram Reels, a popular feature on Meta’s Instagram. A surprising outcome, however, is the amount of people that migrated to the Chinese version of TikTok (although it more closely resembles Pinterest, another popular social media). The app is called Red Note or Xiaohongshu.
Red Note gained popularity in the wake of TikTok being banned for security concerns. Our Congress worried that American data was being collected and exploited. Although TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew denied these concerns in a publicized trial last year, the ban was still passed. This sparked an outcry from the 170 million TikTok users in the U.S. who claimed that it was a breach of their freedom of speech.
Not only is the ban unpopular among most Americans, but it seems to have failed to do the one thing it was enacted for: protect American data from the Chinese Communist Party. Red Note is an e-commerce and social networking platform that, according to the New York Times, is completely beholden to Chinese law and would be required to turn over user data to the Chinese government if requested to do so.
On top of all this, it’s looking like President-elect Donald J. Trump is uninterested in enforcing the ban and is looking for alternative solutions like giving TikTok a 90-day extension to avoid a ban altogether. “I think that would be, certainly, an option that we look at,” Trump told NBC News. “The 90-day extension is something that will be most likely done, because it’s appropriate. You know, it’s appropriate. We have to look at it carefully. It’s a very big situation”.
Finally, as of right now, Jan. 19th, 2:21 p.m., U.S. TikTok users are able to access the app again with full features. This comes as a surprise since the app issued two notices on Saturday, one to warn of the ban and one to confirm its enaction and shut down the app.
TikTok’s future in the U.S. is unclear, but perhaps it is too early to write off the beloved social media platform just yet. Today, TikTok issued a 3rd notice thanking Trump for his efforts in helping TikTok stay in the country, confirming that the app would be here to stay for at least a little while longer.
