As we all know, TikTok is the social media app where people can create short-form video content to share with its almost two billion users. It is owned by a Chinese company called ByteDance. Aspects of the app have been replicated by several other social media apps, like Snapchat Spotlight, Instagram Reels, and YouTube Shorts. But none of these apps seem to have the same success that TikTok has. The secret? An incredibly personalized algorithm presented on users’ For You Page that makes it so easy to scroll for hours on end. However, the U.S. government has been concerned that this tailored algorithm and other aspects of the app are dangerous to American citizens.
TikTok settled federal charges of violating U.S. child-privacy laws and agreed to pay a $5.7 million dollar fine in February 2019. That fall, an investigation was underway. In December, the Pentagon recommended that all U.S. military personnel delete TikTok from all phones, personal and government-issued. Some services ban the app on military-owned phones. Then in January, the Pentagon banned the app from all military phones. In May of 2020, suspicious behavior increased when privacy groups filed a complaint alleging TikTok is still violating U.S. child-protection laws and flouting a 2019 settlement agreement. Despite attempts to heal U.S. relations by hiring former Disney executive Kevin Mayer as its chief executive officer, not much improved. Mayer resigned three months later.
In July of 2020, President Donald Trump said he was considering banning TikTok as retaliation for China’s alleged mishandling of the COVID-19 pandemic. The next month, he issued a sweeping but vague executive order banning American companies from any “transaction” with ByteDance and its subsidiaries, including TikTok. Several days later, he issued a second order demanding that ByteDance divest itself of TikTok’s U.S. operations within 90 days. Companies like Microsoft, Oracle, and Walmart express interest in acquiring the app. However, TikTok sues the Trump administration for alleged violation of due process in its executive orders. The plans to sell TikTok eventually fell through when President Joe Biden was elected.
But once again, TikTok got into hot water with its controversial algorithm and potential security risks. Despite efforts to fix these issues, like with increased guidelines on harmful content and migrating its user data to U.S. servers managed by the U.S. tech firm Oracle, the app continued to face possible bans in the United States. In March of 2023, legislators grilled TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew at a six-hour congressional hearing where Chew, a native of Singapore, attempted to push back on assertions that TikTok and ByteDance are tools of the Chinese government. Clips of the hearing went viral for Congress allegedly acting racist and clueless about the app and company.
The House of Representatives passed the TikTok ban-or-sell bill in March 2024. In April, the Senate followed suit, sending the bill to President Biden, who signed it. The following month, TikTok and its Chinese parent company, ByteDance, sued the U.S. federal government to challenge the law that would force the sale of ByteDance’s stake or face a ban, saying that the law was unconstitutional. On December 6th of 2024, a federal appeals court panel unanimously upheld a law that could lead to a ban on TikTok, handing a resounding defeat to the popular social media platform as it fights for its survival in the United States. The panel of judges rebuffed the company’s challenge of the statute, which it argued had run afoul of the First Amendment.
On December 27, President-elect Donald Trump asked the Supreme Court to pause the potential TikTok ban from going into effect until his administration can pursue a “political resolution” to the issue. However, the Supreme Court unanimously upheld the federal law banning TikTok beginning unless it’s sold by its China-based parent company, holding that the risk to national security posed by its ties to China overcomes concerns about limiting speech by the app. A ban was set to go into effect on January 19, 2025. On January 18th, TikTok users in the United States were prevented from watching videos on the popular social media platform just hours before a federal ban was set to take effect. “A law banning TikTok has been enacted in the United States,” a message in the app said. “Unfortunately, that means you can’t use TikTok for now.” The app resumed working the next day.
Ironically enough, many people on the app did not take the January 19 ban seriously at first. This is due to the fact that there have been many other instances in the past few years where it was stated that TikTok would be banned; this “ban” never occurred, as stated earlier. However, as January 19th kept inching closer, many TikTokers began to take the situation more seriously. They argued that the banning of TikTok is an infringement on their First Amendment rights—as TikTok CEO Shou Chew also argued—and that many people’s voices would be taken away by banning the social media platform. Some even suggested that the true reason TikTok was being banned was not due to the potential security risks or even communist propaganda, but because the government did not want people to speak out against them. But, as of right now, this just remains a conspiracy theory.
In addition, many people had small businesses and jobs that they would lose when TikTok was banned. Small business owners were able to spread awareness and knowledge of their businesses through TikTok, causing them to be able to maintain a living for themselves. Some even earned money simply creating videos on TikTok as an influencer. These people were reasonably upset at the news of TikTok being banned and even protested outside of Congress.
Approximately a couple of weeks before the ban, many Americans on TikTok were vehemently searching for a new social media app. Many did not want to “migrate” to Instagram, as it was owned by Meta (which will be discussed later). The potential apps ranged from Lemon8 (another app owned by ByteDance), Neptune (an app that has not been released yet but is said to be similar to TikTok), and, of course, the most well-known one: Xiaohongshu, aka RedNote.
A large influx of American TikTokers joined RedNote in the coming weeks before the ban, causing the app to rise to #1 in social media apps on the App Store. Red Note is said to be the most popular choice, as it was the TikTokers’ way of getting back at the government for the ban. After all, it is incredibly ironic that the banning of TikTok, caused by concerns regarding the Chinese government’s influence on the app, caused Americans to join an app that was primarily owned by Chinese people. The app is notably similar to TikTok with its features and presentation, making it easier for Americans to adapt to. Although those who were a part of Red Note originally said that the app was updated for the new TikTok users.
Regarding the response from RedNote users, it was incredibly positive and welcoming. The users would joke about being the Americans’ “Chinese spies” and even ask Americans for help on their English homework. In turn, TikTok users would teach them American slang and send photos of their pets, referred to as “cat tax.” Overall, it was an extremely amiable environment. Although many deleted the app once TikTok returned, there is still a large amount of Americans using RedNote due to their newfound attachment to the Chinese app.
As for the future of TikTok, that is still left unanswered. Considering the fact that the app can still no longer be found or downloaded on the App Store, many wonder if the future of TikTok is still bleak. On January 20th, President Trump signed an executive order to extend the TikTok ban by 75 days, claiming that the social media app should be the least of the government’s worries. He is also credited as being the one to save TikTok by the CEO, Shou Chew, despite the ban taking place before Trump officially got inaugurated. Many suspect that Chew and Trump are working closely due to this, in addition to the fact that Chew was at Trump’s inauguration along with other social media CEOs, much to the Democratic Party’s chagrin.
On the topic of CEOs, the most common theory circling online is that the application got sold off to Meta. Around a day or two before TikTok was temporarily banned, Facebook actually created an account on said app and even added a feature on their own app that allowed Facebook users to link their account to their TikTok account. In addition, some say that Chew’s bio on TikTok changed from “CEO of TikTok” to just “TikTok” right before the ban. However, many argue against this and say his bio has always been simply “TikTok,” and the CEO part was never there to begin with, this being attributed to the Mandela Effect.
Some even theorize that the app was sold to Mr. Beast of all people, since his bio reads, “New CEO of TikTok?” and he even posted a couple of videos on the matter. However, many claim that this is very unlikely and just the man’s way of grabbing attention in a time of uncertainty. Overall, the fate of TikTok is still up in the air and inconclusive. Whether or not Chew is still the CEO of TikTok, or he sold the app to Meta (or anyone else), will hopefully be answered in due time.
