On Saturday, January 18th, 2025, Google and Apple evacuated the app from their stores, a necessity of the boycott, which too precludes web-hosting companies from giving back end back to the app. This all took place as a part of a 14-hour removal of the app from across the United States, affecting 170 million users
The following Sunday morning, President-elect Donald Trump essentially undid the blackout. He promised to halt the law and provide tech companies that support TikTok with a liability shield while his incoming administration works out the app's future.
Why was TikTok banned?
TikTok was banned in the U.S. because of national security concerns about its Chinese parent company, ByteDance, potentially sharing user data with the Chinese government. The Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act required ByteDance to sell its U.S. operations or face a ban, which was enforced when ByteDance missed the deadline.
In 2020, the Trump administration issued executive orders aimed at banning TikTok unless its U.S. operations were sold to a domestic company. However, these efforts faced legal challenges that delayed enforcement. The Biden administration later paused these bans but maintained scrutiny of TikTok due to ongoing national security concerns. Talks of banning or imposing stricter regulations continued into 2023, driven by rising tensions between the U.S. and China.
Why Was Tik Tok Ban Reversed?
President Donald Trump issued an executive order Monday to temporarily suspend the implementation of a TikTok ban in the United States for a period of 75 days, one of his first actions after taking office.
"I intend to consult with my advisors, including the heads of relevant departments and agencies on the national security concerns posed by TikTok, and to pursue a resolution that protects national security while saving a platform used by 170 million Americans," Trump said in the executive order. "My Administration must also review sensitive intelligence related to those concerns and evaluate the sufficiency of mitigation measures TikTok has taken to date."
President Trump said this about his decision to reverse the TikTok ban. This order comes days after Congress passed the ban with overwhelming bipartisan support, citing national security concerns.
When Will Tik Tok be back in the App Store?
Users who already had the app downloaded onto their devices were able to jump back into TikTok after the ban was reversed. However, those who hadn't yet downloaded it or had deleted the app seem to be unable to get it back.
This image is displayed when you search for TikTok on the Play Store.
Algorithm Change
When TikTok users in the U.S. returned to the app 12 hours after the ban was reversed some claimed to have found it in a different state than before. Some users shared with the app that the app’s algorithm has changed.
Some users shared on TikTok that they weren't (and still aren't) seeing some of the content they had seen a lot of before the short-lived ban. Others posted videos about seeing news content on their FYP from verified news sources, and no longer from other users who wanted to share their input on the news.
TikTok Alternatives
In the wake of the TikTok ban, which was shortly reversed, users flocked to other apps. Rednote, the Chinese-owned platform, is the most popular alternative. Other notable alternatives to TikTok include Lemon8, YouTube Shorts, Instagram Reels, and BlueSky.
There are still a number of concerns about TikTok. Whether it will be re-banned or when it will come back to the play store and what replacement apps we can use. As of now, this is the latest news about the Tik Tok situation. Stay tuned for more news about this situation.
