TikTok, an app with over 170 million U.S. users, was officially set to be banned in the United States on Jan. 19, 2025. The Supreme Court made their final ruling for TikTok needing to be sold to United States companies, which had been refused, so it was officially getting banned.
In preparation for the ban, many TikTok creators and influencers started to go into a mourning for the app, revisiting their favorite moments from the years of its existence. Some creators recreated old viral trends and videos they were known for, or shared secrets they had been lying to their viewers about.
In the weeks and days before the app’s awaited ban, TikTokers felt a lot of worry that they would lose their sense of community they had created over the years that cannot be replicated on any other app, and consumers worried about losing their favorite creators. Many people started creating accounts on the app “RedNote,” a Chinese social networking app, originally known as Xiaohongshu, with a similar style to TikTok that resonated with people.
As one of the main arguments against TikTok was the concern that it was stealing data and sharing it with China, it’s ironic that the app TikTok users decided to flock to is likely even more connected to China than TikTok is claimed to be.
The day before the event, in the evening on Jan. 18, TikTok users received a pop-up notification through the app, saying:
“Important update from TikTok. We regret that a U.S. law banning TikTok will take effect on January 19 and force us to make our services temporarily unavailable. We’re working to restore our service in the U.S. as soon as possible, and we appreciate your support. Please stay tuned.”
The app’s shutdown occurred hours earlier than expected. Later in the night, TikTok users were met with another popup after opening the app:
“Sorry, TikTok isn’t available right now. 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. Please stay tuned!”
In the minutes and hours following, many people expressed their distress on other social media platforms. People were getting ready for a future without TikTok, and grasping how much of a hold it really had on their lives and time until it was suddenly out of reach.
This message gave people a little more hope than they expected, that maybe it could come back. Not even a full day later, it was back up and running, slowly but surely.
“Welcome back! Thanks for your patience and support. As a result of President Trump’s efforts, TikTok is back in the U.S.! You can continue to create, share, and discover all the things you love on TikTok.”
President Trump was one of the leading efforts to ban TikTok in his first term, yet he is now taking credit for the return of TikTok. There isn’t a clear reason why he decided to let go of all the issues he and the Supreme Court had against it leading up to its ban, along with Joe Biden’s plan. However, the app is still inaccessible through the app store, so it is unable to be redownloaded if deleted.
With how much it was building up, it was definitely an anticlimactic end to the situation. There haven’t been any major public reactions since it was such a short lived issue. It is evident that people are happy to have the app back, though there are still some unsolved issues that still need to be worked out.
