On Jan. 19, Chinese company ByteDance answered American demands regarding national security concerns and shut down their social media app TikTok to American users before allowing access to the app again in just over 12 hours.
According to the Associated Press (AP), suspicions over TikTok’s content moderation began in September of 2019 when the Washington Post insinuated that the app was deleting videos of Hong Kong democracy posts and pushing content associated with President Donald Trump. Similarly, The Guardian conducted a detailed report that found that the app’s moderators were instructed to limit content that touched on sensitive topics regarding the Chinese government.
Investigations began in November of 2019, according to the AP, and while TikTok rapidly gained popularity, the U.S. government urged all military personnel to remove it from their phones. In mid 2020, Trump announced that he was considering a ban on the app to protect Americans’ private data and in response to China’s handling of COVID-19.
“What happened with China with this virus, what they’ve done to this country and to the entire world is disgraceful,” Trump said in an interview with Gray Television’s Greta Van Susteren in reference to potentially banning TikTok as retaliation.
Even though Trump ultimately did not ban the app for American users, he did issue an executive order which banned American companies from being a part of transactions with ByteDance. In retaliation, ByteDance sued the Trump administration for violation of due process, meaning Trump did not follow the course of the law when issuing the executive order. However, when 46th President Joe Biden entered office, he essentially stopped Trump’s efforts to ban the app.
Beginning in 2022, concerns about security arose again. After finding leaked audio from TikTok meetings, Buzzfeed published an article stating that Chinese employees had repeatedly accessed non-public information about its users. In response to U.S. officials’ concerns, TikTok moved its user data to American services. However, this did not ease their alarm.
Even after Singaporean TikTok Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Shou Zi Chew spent hours telling legislators that the app was not under Chinese manipulation, House Republicans put forth a bill stating that if TikTok was not sold to a non-Chinese company, it would have to be banned in the United States. Biden signed this bill into order in April of 2024, and the Supreme Court upheld the ruling in January of 2025.
Despite being adamantly against the app in years past, Trump is now fighting to reverse the ban. During an Oval Office media session on the day of his inaguration, Trump addressed his switch of opinion.
“If China is going to get information about young kids…to be honest with you, I think we have bigger problems than that,” Trump said.
In line with this new view, Trump issued an executive order that directed the Department of Justice to delay the ban for 75 days, according to USA Today. His executive order, however, states that his administration will reevaluate the national security concerns. This executive order is not a law nor does it legally reverse the ban, but it is a protocol on how he wants the government to manage the app.
When the 170 million American TikTok users received the message that read, “Thanks for your patience and support. As a result of President Trump’s efforts, TikTok is back in the U.S.!”, many users were elated but confused, and they were not alone. Republican Senator Tom Cotton has expressed on other social media platforms that he believes there is no legal basis for Trump’s plans with TikTok.
The first thing the American Constitution ensures as a right for its citizens is the freedom of speech, and because of this, many feel that banning TikTok is a form of censorship. However, when TikTok themselves made this argument before the Supreme Court, the court upheld that the ban was because of valid national security concerns, and they had no intention to limit speech. Even if the ban is constitutional, it has still sparked debate about censorship. Kaneland High School social studies teacher Sarah Ray believes that these debates will be the first time many high school students begin to truly understand the extent to which the government is a part of our lives, especially in terms of what we can and cannot see.
Ray also points out that students may not even understand the full extent of what a data leak can do and what type of information could be made available. According to the Cable News Network (CNN), TikTok could have access to private messages sent within the app, along with users’ geolocations, contact lists, email addresses, ages and phone numbers.
Millions of people are waiting to find out what will happen when the 75-day delay is over. Various groups have expressed interest in purchasing the app, but an official buyer has not been announced. As outlined in the ban, if TikTok is sold to an American or their company, American users can have permanent access to it once again. Trump could also issue another executive order to extend the ban. Whether or not the ban is reinstated or the app’s return is permanent, TikTok has made some people more aware of government and cybersecurity.
