According to, The Supreme Court Of United States, on Jan. 19th, 2025, the “Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act,” will make it illegal for companies, like the Apple App store and Google play, to distribute, maintain, or update TikTok.
TikTok is a social media platform that allows users to create, publish, view, share, and interact with short videos, at an average video time at 60 seconds. Since its rebranding in 2017, the platform has accumulated over 170 million users in the United States.
Re-elected President Trump has let the people of American know that he is working together with TikTok to bring back the app. On Jan. 18th, around 10:30 p.m. TikTok sent out a pop-up-message to its users in the United States stating: “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.”
The ban was originally scheduled to take place at 12 a.m. that night. The departure of the app earlier in the evening caused surprise and unpreparedness throughout TikTok’s users.
“I think that was a little crazy and I was not prepared for that. I was expecting it to be at 12 a.m. January 19th. I wasn’t able to do everything that I wanted to do before the ban but sadly TikTok banned us earlier,” sophomore Natalie Jackson said.
After interviewing multiple people, most did not know that in 2020, President Trump issued an Executive Order stating that, “the spread in the United States of mobile applications developed and owned by companies in China continues to threaten the national security, foreign policy, and economy of the United States.”
Throughout 2022, ByteDance Ltd. (main owner of TikTok) negotiated with the Executive Branch to resolve Trumps concerns. Congress enacted the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act. The Branch thought that ByteDance Ltd. did not solve these concerns, leading to both parties not coming to an agreement, meaning that TikTok would have 270 days before the act takes effect on Jan. 19th.
Some, such as the Senator for Massachusetts, Edward John Markey do not agree with this ban. Edward has been serving as the junior United States senator since 2013. Recently a video that he posted on TikTok went viral, with more then 1 billion views.
“They [users of TikTok] are uncertain about the future of the platform, their accounts, and the vibrant online communities they have cultivated. A ban would dismantle a one-of-a-kind informational and cultural ecosystem, silencing millions in the process. That’s why I will soon introduce the Extend the TikTok Deadline Act to extend the deadline by which ByteDance must sell TikTok or face a ban by an additional 270 days. TikTok has its problems. But a TikTok ban would impose serious consequences on millions of Americans who depend on the app for social connections and their economic livelihood,” Markey said.
Some people think that this Ban goes against the First Amendment, Freedom of speech, and is not fair to US citizens.
“Well, I believe that the TikTok ban does go against the First Amendment. I feel like the government was just trying to find any reason to ban TikTok because people were using it to express themselves in ways the government did not want,” sophomore Shawn’nira Wilcox said.
TikTok sent another pop-up-message the morning of Jan. 19th, thanking its users for their patience and how it is up and running, thanks to Trump. TikTok seemed to be working fine for most after the pop-up message. Most have lacked to notice that creators are not live.
“It was a lot for me. Even days leading up to the ban, I did not know what to believe. I started to get these pop-ups about the ban on tiktok and was left trying to save all my drafts, but I ran out of time. The ban took place but then it was back up after 12 hours. Its all so confusing. But it is weird how there is no influencers going live. If you go and search TikTok on any App Store it’s not there,” said Freshman Morgan Cresswell.
With Trump officially being president as of Monday, Jan. 20th, 2025, people are calling out to him to help fix Tiktok.
“TikTok is a popular app that this generation uses not just for entertainment but for many positive purposes. It has helped me with schoolwork, daily tips, and inspirational quotes. While I am unsure if I agree with the ban, it might give people a chance to take a break. However, if the ban did last longer, adjusting to life without TikTok could be challenging since we’ve relied on it so much,” Wilcox said.
