On the final full day of the Biden administration, Jan. 19, a law that essentially banned TikTok in the U.S. officially went into effect. The bill, titled the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act, was signed into law by former President Joe Biden in April 2024. The ban temporarily shut down the U.S. TikTok servers from the night of before the law took effect to midday.
The law stated that in order to continue operating in the U.S., TikTok’s Chinese parent company, ByteDance, had to sell the platform. Claims have been made from government officials on both sides of the aisle, especially within the past year, that China was stealing the data of American users. TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew denied these claims in a hearing before the House.
While the services were down, a message was displayed when users opened the app, reading, "A law banning TikTok has been enacted in the U.S. Unfortunately, that means you can't use TikTok right now. 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!"
When the services returned for users, a new message popped up thanking President Donald Trump for his “efforts” in restoring the platform. Because the law is still on the books, the app cannot be downloaded on U.S. app stores, leaving users who may have deleted the app in wake of the ban in the dark.
Though this law was created and enacted during the Biden administration, it was not originally his idea. In fact, Trump, the same person TikTok praised for bringing operations back, signed an executive order in August 2020 during his first term to ban the app as well, citing the same unfounded concerns and requiring ByteDance to sell the app.
This initial ban proposal coincidentally came after the Black Lives Matter protests of summer 2020, when people used the app to criticize policing in the U.S. as well as the Trump Administration. In late 2023, there was a resurgence in calls to ban the app from Republicans, claiming TikTok had a “pro-Palestinian slant” as users were once again using the platform to criticize government actions on a mass level.
Many called these attempts, as well as the law that took effect, an infringement on the free speech of the 170 million American users on the platform. Creators and business owners who relied on the app also had major concerns,
The only reason Trump is now in favor of TikTok is because it bent to his will. Just as other tech giants such as Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg have, Chew has shown a willingness to give Trump what he wants in exchange for favorability. He even attended Trump’s inauguration the day after services went back up.
Not only is it hypocritical for Trump to reverse his stance, but also for the government to not go after other social media platforms in a similar way. Data authorities across Europe have claimed that Musk’s X and Zuckerberg’s Meta have taken and sold excessive amounts of data from users. But now that Musk and Zuckerberg are in his inner circle, action against them is unlikely.
Ethan Herx is a sophomore studying photojournalism at Ohio University. Please note that the views and opinions of the columnists do not reflect those of The Post. Want to share your thoughts? Let Ethan know by emailing or tweeting them at eh481422@ohio.edu or @ethanherx.
