Late on Saturday, Jan. 18, Americans were met with a shocking message on their phones — “Sorry, TikTok isn’t available right now.”
The abrupt shutdown led to widespread concern among the platform’s 170 million American users, many of whom took to other social media platforms to express their frustration and anxiety over potentially losing access to their saved videos.
While TikTok is a social media app that allows users to create, share, and discover short-form videos, it holds a much deeper value within the hearts of many Americans. TikTok, owned by Chinese company ByteDance Ltd., isn’t just an application that builds niche communities, but it changes how industries operate, affecting how we live, eat, watch and buy.
The reason for the disruption was the U.S. Supreme Court’s unanimous decision to uphold the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act. This legislation mandated ByteDance to divest its U.S operations by Jan. 19 or face a ban due to potential national security concerns. In compliance with this decision, TikTok announced the temporary unavailability of its service in the U.S.
However, the company hinted towards a potential return. Upon opening the app, users saw a message stating, “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!”
Twelve hours after shutting down, TikTok restored its services after Trump announced he would issue an executive order to delay the ban by 75 days, allowing time to negotiate a joint venture that would allow for the U.S. to have a 50% ownership stake in TikTok. Despite the restoration, the app remains unavailable for new downloads as it has been removed from app stores in compliance with the ban. For example, Apple stated all apps developed by ByteDance, which include Lemon8, CapCut, Marvel Snap, Gauth, Hypic, Lark, are not available to be downloaded or updated.
Lawmakers have expressed concern with how TikTok collects sensitive personal information which could potentially be accessed by the Chinese government. However, The U.S. has not addressed any concerns of Americans entering and using other Chinese social media apps such as Xiaohongshu, or Red Note.
During TikTok’s temporary suspension, rumors circulated that Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg had acquired the platform. The rumor highlighted public frustrations with tech giants like Meta, which collect vast amounts of user data, yet avoid similar scrutiny leading to accusations of a double standard.
As of press time, TikTok users can still access the app during the delay, but new users are locked out. What will happen next is anybody’s guess, but 170 million Americans are waiting to find out.