Tiktok was banned on January 19th, 2025,

And then brought back 12 hours later!

After months of dramatic threats from the United States Supreme Court about upholding the federal law that would effectively ban the social media app, Tiktok was set to be banned permanently on January 19th unless the ownership would be sold from Byte Dance, a Chinese-owned internet technology company, to an American company. In the hours leading up to the ban, over 170 million loyal American TikTok users were mourning the loss of one of the most popular apps used by American users. Posting their goodbye videos, making their ‘RedNote’ accounts, and trying to use VPNs to change their location to try and still be able to use the app despite the ban. Americans really loved TikTok, and this was made clear by the extent to which we were sad about the ban. And then it happened: at roughly 8:30 pm PST on January 19th, Tiktok shut down. 

However, that wasn’t the end.

The app didn’t necessarily just go black; a pop-up message appeared on users’ screens, stating, 

“Sorry, Tiktok isn’t available right now. A law banning TikTok has been enacted in the U.S. Unfortunately, that means you can’t use TikTok for now. We are fortunate that President Trump has indicated that he will work on a solution to reinstate TikTok once he takes office. Please stay tuned.”

This message is interesting, and it caught the attention of many. It was a very abrupt political message. While almost everyone knew that the TikTok ban was political as the American government was banning it, many of us still did not expect this politically persuasive message. It was a bit strange to see Byte Dance seemingly working with Donald Trump to try and save Tiktok, especially considering the history. For example, on July 31st, 2020, 5 years ago, Donald Trump announced a decision that would order ByteDance to divest the ownership of TikTok to an American company and threatened to shut down the use of Tiktok in America if ByteDance did not comply. ByteDance would eventually file a lawsuit against the Trump administration, which entails the beginning of the Trump and ByteDance relationship. It was Donald Trump himself who originally initiated the idea of a TikTok ban 5 years ago, and then he was the very one to save the app 5 years later. Or at least for some time.

Twelve hours after the initial pop-up message of the TikTok ban, another one appeared.

“Welcome Back! Thanks for your patience and support. As a result of President Trump’s efforts, Tiktok is back in the U.S.” You can continue to create, share, and discover all the things you love on Tiktok.”

The ban of TikTok and then the sudden reinstatement only 12 hours later raised significant questions about the validity of the entire ban. Was this for a genuine national security concern, or was it a calculated political maneuver? 

One of the most obviously striking aspects regarding the concerns of the situation was the political messaging displayed to TikTok users. ByteDance/Tiktok’s statement, thanking Donald Trump for the return of TikTok Tok, suggested an unusually unexpected connection, especially considering Donald Trump’s previous stance on the app. This message led many to suspect whether the ban was possibly orchestrated to uplift Donald Trump’s image. 

The Tiktok ban was broadcasted about being for national security concerns, to protect the data of Americans; however, the sudden reinstatement of the app after only 12 hours begs the question, was it really about national security concerns, or something deeper, possibly for generating public outcry and political leverage. The argument that Tiktok posed a significant data privacy concern due to the non-American ownership is inconsistent. While there are certainly valid concerns about foreign data collection, there are many other apps popularly used by Americans that are foreign-owned, including SHIEN, Temu, Spotify, and Telegram. Additionally, American companies like Meta and Google have been involved in data collection and privacy violations many times. The U.S. government’s specific focus on Tiktok’s data collection practices, while allowing domestic companies to do the same practices, may indicate that the real issue of the ban was not about data security but possibly about control over digital influence. 

While no conspiracy or suspicion regarding the TikTok ban is absolute, it is important to think about deeper meanings in policy decisions. Was this a matter of national security protection, or was it a test of political influence and public perceptions?