TikTok goes dark, Trump steps in to delay the ban

TikTok, a Chinese-owned video-sharing app, was placed under review in November of 2019 by the U.S. government for concerns of censorship and data collection. Photo credit: Shutterstock

TikTok was removed from U.S. app stores and went temporarily non-functional on the night of Saturday, Jan. 18, only to restore service 15 hours later, following an announcement by President Donald Trump to sign an executive order delaying the ban.

“I’m asking companies not to let TikTok stay dark!” Trump said on Truth Social. “I will issue an executive order on Monday to extend the period of time before the law’s prohibitions take effect, so that we can make a deal to protect our national security.”

While TikTok went dark, a message on the app read, “We are fortunate that President Trump has indicated that he will work with us on the solution to reinstate TikTok once he takes office.” The quick return left many wondering if the platform’s removal was part of a broader political strategy, given the president’s past efforts to ban the app. 

“I’m glad TikTok is back but I’m not going to praise Trump for being the one to do it,” said Corinne Kelly, a senior studying entrepreneurship at the University of Miami, in response to the TikTok message crediting “President Trump’s efforts” once the app restored service.

The short-video sharing app has been at the center of U.S. national security concerns due to its parent company’s (Byte Dance) connections to the Chinese Communist Party. It was first flagged as a potential threat by Trump in July 2020, as retaliation for China’s alleged mishandling of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Since then, a number of lawmakers have expressed skepticism about TikTok’s efforts to safeguard U.S. user data, regardless of TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew’s testimony before a Congressional committee in March 2023. 

Before the app’s brief removal, Trump remarked that he had a “warm spot” for TikTok in his heart, falsely claiming that “[he] won youth by 36 points and there are those that say that [the platform] had something to do with that.”

According to exit poll data published by NBC News, former Vice President Kamala Harris beat Trump 54% to 43% among voters ages 18-29.

“Frankly, we have no choice. We have to save it,” Trump said at a rally on Sunday, Jan. 19, adding that the United States will seek a joint venture to restore the app used by over 170 million Americans. 

User speculation suggested that those who downloaded TikTok before the ban would still have access but be unable to update the app, eventually making it nonfunctional. When the ban was enforced, users were greeted with an unexpected message stating that content was restricted in the U.S.

With the app functioning again, it remains unclear if the content creation platform will be here to stay in the future. 

“It doesn’t make any sense. How can it be saved by someone who wasn’t in office yet,” said Claire Bitner, a senior studying communications and sociology at UM.

While the specifics of the negotiations between Trump and TikTok remain unclear, the situation highlights the influence that Trump continues to have over tech companies including Meta, X and TikTok. 

This year, Trump’s inaugural guest list included some of the nation’s most powerful tech leaders, including Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, X owner and DOGE co-chair Elon Musk, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and TikTok CEO Chew.

On Jan. 7, Meta replaced its traditional fact-checkers with a community notes feature, similar to the one on X. Meanwhile, X’s owner and CTO Musk has built a strong relationship with Trump on the campaign trail, backing the president with more than a quarter of a billion dollars. 

Now, Trump has created a connection with the CEO and the millions of TikTok users in the U.S., giving himself a seat at the table for discussions regarding the future of the platform.  

“To me it sounds like there was so much more at play than just issues with data,” Bitner said. “[Trump’s team] hoped this would gain the TikTok generation’s favor but most of us just don’t understand the point of it all.”

According to the TikTok Policy X account, TikTok “will work with President Trump on a long-term solution that keeps [the platform] in the United States,” during the 75-day extension granted by the president’s executive order on Monday evening.