In the days approaching January 19, 2025, millions of TikTok content creators and consumers prepared to say their final goodbyes to the app. After a TikTok ban was passed in Congress, requiring the app either to be sold to an American company on an impossible timeline or to go dark, it appeared the social media platform would be pulled out from under its 170 million US-based users.
As promised, on the evening of January 18, TikTok went dark. A message appeared for users attempting to open the app that read:
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 with us on a solution to reinstate TikTok once he takes office.
Less than twenty-four hours later, the app returned with the message, “As a result of President Trump’s efforts, TikTok is back in the U.S.”
These messages, delivered the day before his inauguration, failed to mention that Donald Trump had yet to assume the presidency. They similarly failed to mention that it was the Trump administration that had called for the legislation banning TikTok during his first presidential term. The law was championed by pro-Trump members of Congress, including Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR), whose racist line of questioning of TikTok CEO Shou Chew went viral for pressing Chew on his citizenship status and alleged affiliation with China (Chew is Singaporean). Finally, the ban was upheld by Trump-appointed members of the Supreme Court.
Now Trump has not only managed to evade responsibility for his role in promoting the TikTok ban but has taken credit for ending it. Shortly after his inauguration, Trump signed an executive order delaying the ban of TikTok by seventy-five days….
Auteur: Caitlyn Clark
