A TikTok ban within the US that is been within the works for years began early on Saturday with the corporate locking down US customers — however your entire saga stays extra about politics than nationwide safety.
As of January 19, 2025, TikTok is now not accessible throughout the US. The app is being faraway from Apple’s App Retailer and the Google Play Retailer, plus Oracle should now cease internet hosting the service’s US person information.
These current customers will see solely an explanatory pop-up message on launching the app. TikTok’s house owners, Chinese language agency ByteDance, is claimed to be working to permit customers to obtain their information and private info.
The second notification despatched to customers with the app put in cites some form of dialogue happening with president elect Donald Trump, regardless of him being the architect of the ban within the first place.
A legislation banning TikTok has been enacted within the U.S. Sadly, meaning you may’t use TokTok for now
We’re lucky that President Trump has indicated that he’ll work with us on an answer to reinstate TikTok as soon as he takes workplace. Please keep tuned!
How we received right here
The ban is basically the fruits of years of politics, however ostensibly, the reason being that TikTok is owned by a Chinese language firm. It is alleged that due to this fact that China might compel the corporate to supply it with confidential US person information.
President Trump proposed the ban in 2020,
“So far as TikTok is anxious, we’re banning them from the USA,” he mentioned in August 1, 2020. “Quickly, instantly. I imply basically instantly. I’ll signal the doc tomorrow.”
It was on August 7, 2020, that Trump signed the Government Order banning TikTok, and giving it a deadline of September 20. The order specified that such Chinese language-owned apps proceed “to threaten the nationwide safety, overseas coverage, and economic system of the USA.”
The order cited the Worldwide Emergency Financial Powers Act, and prohibited any transaction between US corporations and TikTok’s proprietor, ByteDance. Earlier than the September deadline, ByteDance was mentioned to be in talks that will see Oracle take over its US enterprise, and Trump publicly authorised the deal — initially.
He then scuttled this Oracle/TikTok deal in September 2020. It is not identified why, however conceivably it was believed that the Oracle deal wouldn’t assuage safety issues.
TikTok’s house owners have repeatedly claimed that the US safety issues had been unfounded. It mentioned that it had robust information safety, and denied claims that the Chinese language authorities had any entry.
The September 2020 ban was first delayed by a US decide. It was then blocked in November 2020 by the courts as an infringement of the rights of People whose earnings was derived from their work on TikTok.
Biden indicators the ban into legislation
The case in opposition to TikTok has not diversified or expanded from the accusations of Chinese language entry to US person information. However in 2024, President Biden signed the ban into legislation.
“The trail to my desk was a troublesome path,” President Biden mentioned. “It ought to have been simpler and it ought to’ve gotten there sooner. however in the long run we did what America all the time does — we rose to the second.”
On this case, ByteDance was given 9 months to divest itself of TikTok. A 3-month extension can be triggered if the corporate was in negotiations to promote the platform.
That extension didn’t occur, however one factor that modified was that Trump requested in December 2024 for the ban to be paused. There would not look like any technical, safety, or authorized cause for Trump’s request, however any delay would have pushed the ban into his forthcoming administration.
One different factor that arguably modified over the 4 years of the on/off ban threats, is that TikTok has grown considerably. In keeping with website positioning.ai,TikTok now has 150 million customers within the US, in comparison with
82 million in 2020.
Total, TikTok has a billion energetic customers day by day, so the lack of 150 million is important, however not deadly. What may finally harm TikTok extra is that information of the ban has despatched customers to options, together with RedNote — one other China-based firm.