Last night, TikTok was banned from the United States and no longer available to its 170 million American users. A day later, it has returned. Of course, a large swath of the Internet that uses TikTok on a daily basis is celebrating the social media platform being freed from its politicized jail cell, however, others are not happy to see the reversal and see it so quickly.
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The reversal comes only days after a Supreme Court ruling against the platform, and it’s worth noting this saga is certainly not over yet. However, in the meantime, TikTok has been turned back on in the United States by Chinese technology company ByteDance, and the aforementioned 170 million users in the United States can return to using the app as normal. In addition to this, downloads for the app have been restored on the App Store.
“In agreement with our service providers, TikTok is in the process of restoring service,” reads the latest statement from TikTok. “We thank President Trump for providing the necessary clarity and assurance to our service providers that they will face no penalties providing TikTok to over 170 million Americans and allowing over 7 million small businesses to thrive. It’s a strong stand for the First Amendment and against arbitrary censorship. We will work with President Trump on a long-term solution that keeps TikTok in the United States.”
How much of a hand President Donald Trump has played in this reversal is not entirely clear. The statement suggests though his assurances were pivotal in the reversal. And as some have pointed out, TikTok CEO Shou Chew is reportedly going to be in attendance of Trump’s inauguration, which is set to happen on January 20. Of course, this issue was already fairly politicized, and the involvement of Trump has only increased this politicization. This is no doubt contributing to the division over this new decision, as the comment section of the X post from TikTok releasing the statement above indicates.
“Even though I don’t like TikTok as a concept, given that it maximizes addiction over unregretted user minutes, its ban would have set us on a path of increased censorship,” reads one reply happy to see the shutdown reversed. “I’m surprised and stunned. It’s a good first step, I hope,” adds another user who also agrees with reversal.
“They really played with our feelings. This whole thing was a set up for him and Meta. This app won’t be the same anymore. It’s all gonna be political,” writes a third X user, less happy with what has happened.
What comes next for TikTok remains to be seen, but it’s clear the rollercoaster of the last 24 hours has injected a new political discourse and division into the conversation around the social media platform.
