
In the spring of 2024, President Biden signed a law that would make TikTok banned in America. This controversial decision has led the 170 million active American users (Backlinko) to be at a loss. After all, it’s a beloved app for millions, what reason is there for it to be banned on Jan. 19, 2025?
According to the New York Times, the US government wants to ban TikTok because it has the capability to access sensitive user data and place it into the Chinese government. This is mainly due to the fact that ByteDance, TikTok’s parent company, is based in China, which means that it is under Chinese law, which states that the government can “secretly demand data from Chinese companies and citizens for intelligence-gathering operations.”
Due to the popularity of TikTok, the US government also worries about the potential for TikTok to manipulate the public by using “TikTok’s content recommendations to fuel misinformation” (New York Times). Despite these claims, TikTok has denied these allegations.
TikTok’s ban has led a lot of people to be despondent. After all, TikTok helped to popularize short-form content and has created a lot of content for people of all ages to enjoy. There are countless TikTok stars who have turned their life around because of the success and publicity from the app.
Many users have expressed their dissatisfaction with this ban. A student from Bellevue College named Shune Lei Yee Mon says, “I’m gonna miss all my saved collection.” Another BC student, Aaryan Shah, mentions “I’ve used TikTok a lot over the years, but I never expected the ban to really happen until now.” This sentiment has been shared with a lot of people throughout the US as well, which has led people to find ways to save their videos before it’s too late. Some users have mentioned downloading each individual video and others have turned to third-party tools to download all of their videos (Fast Company).
However, what’s really surprising is that countless users are downloading Rednote, also known as Xiaohongshu, as a form of rebellion against the US government (Forbes). Even Representative Khanna believes that banning TikTok isn’t the answer to the US government’s problem, “‘A ban on TikTok violates the free speech of 170 million Americans and hurts the livelihood of creators and small business owners who use the app.” (Ed Markey Website).
TikTok was banned on Jan. 19, however a couple hours after the ban, it reversed its ban with the statement, “As a result of President Trump’s efforts, TikTok is back in the U.S.” A lot of speculation has occurred due to this message, believing that this might be a way to bolster public relations with President Trump or demonstrate government power. Either way, TikTok is now up, so continue scrolling to your delight!