TikTok was restored for many users after going dark Saturday night, due to the long-awaited ban.
TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, was given an ultimatum by the U.S. government to sell the app to an American buyer or face a ban, worried about the possible national security threat from China.
ByteDance was given until Jan. 19 to sell the company, resulting in the app shutting down at around 10:30 p.m. EST on Saturday with a message that read, “A law banning TikTok has been enacted in the U.S. Unfortunately, that means you can’t use TikTok for now.”
The same message reassured users that President-elect Trump was working with the company to find a solution and reinstate the app. On Sunday afternoon, the app was restored on phones around the nation with a new message stating that TikTok is back as a result of, “President Trump’s efforts.”
Erin Brown, a freshman chemistry major from Durham, North Carolina, said the ban and restoration felt like a scam to persuade users to appreciate the President and his “efforts.”
“This was like, ‘President Trump saved us.’ I’m like, ‘What does this man have to be praised for,’ he incited this whole thing in the first place. It was literally like 14 hours of no TikTok. It came back, and it’s not like the app went through any changes, it’s like it just went through a glitch overnight,” Brown said.
According to the AP, Trump first considered banning the app in July 2020, blaming China for the COVID-19 pandemic and using the ban as a form of retaliation. The following month, he issued an executive order banning business with the Chinese owners of TikTok and WeChat.
More than 170 million Americans use the app, integrating it into their daily routines for entertainment, news consumption and career development.
Lauren Brown, a content creator and Howard alumna, started sharing her content on TikTok after noticing mutuals and other creators using it.
After using TikTok for a while, Brown grew a large following for her makeup content and found the editing features on the app are ideal for her videos. However, partnerships and brand deals on TikTok can be tricky due to challenges with maintaining consistent engagement and loyal followers.
“TikTok is fleeting compared to other apps. All algorithms have their ebb and flow, but TikTok’s lower barrier to entry for brand deals means you can gain a following quickly. But things gained quickly leave just as fast,” Brown said.
Brown, who has been creating content on social media since 2018, repurposes her videos across multiple platforms. Because of this strategy, she doesn’t feel she will lose her entire platform with the ban, though she acknowledges the impact.
“I’ll feel like I lost a large chunk of my audience because some people follow you on one app and not on another. If you spread your content across platforms, you’ll be okay. Short-form content acts like a funnel, and now I’m losing part of that funnel,” she said.
News of the ban pushed Brown to transition some of her content to YouTube, a move she had been considering. She isn’t interested in downloading new apps and is focusing on building her presence on established platforms.
“Those new apps always fizzle out. I’ll stick with what I know. Instagram is still alive, YouTube is still alive, Twitter is on its last leg but it’s still alive. So, I’ll be there,” Brown said.
Xiaohongshu, also known as Red Note, a short-form content app based in China, began trending the week of the TikTok ban. According to Nasdaq, 3.4 million U.S. accounts were created during that time.
Suma Sesay, a sophomore political science major from Atlanta, downloaded Red Note but found it wasn’t user-friendly. As a regular TikTok user, she plans to refocus her attention on longer-form content and stay informed without the app.
“If you see me in the comments of my favorite creators asking, ‘What’s your Instagram? Let me follow you, please,’ I’ll definitely be doing that too,” Sesay said.
Sesay expressed concern about what the ban says about the government and its implications for the future.
“The Supreme Court is well within its rights to make this decision, but I’m primarily worried about the precedent that this does set for social media, especially in the era of AI. The precedent that it sets from the Supreme Court to overreach when it comes to technology and how it interacts with the public,” Sesay said.
Copy edited by Anijah Franklin
