Did Trump promise to bring TikTok back to the US? | Social Media News

TikTok users in the United States gained partial access to the popular social media app on Sunday, just hours before President-elect Donald Trump's promised reinstatement order took effect.

Earlier on Saturday, the app was taken offline after the U.S. Supreme Court refused to save TikTok from a new law forcing its owner, ByteDance, to sell a popular short-video app to a U.S. company. This is the first such action against a widely used social media site. .

Trump, who is scheduled to be sworn in Monday, has promised to issue an executive order immediately after taking office and give the company more time to comply. At a pre-inauguration rally on Sunday, Trump proclaimed that as of today, TikTok was back and credited the app with helping him win over young voters in November's general election .

Here's what you need to know about the ban and Trump's promise:

How could Trump overturn the TikTok ban?

President-elect Trump, who previously supported banning TikTok, promised Sunday to issue an executive order to temporarily end the federal ban.

In a post on his Truth Social platform, Trump said the order would extend the deadline before legal bans take effect and allow TikTok to find a U.S. company with which to share a 50% stake.

Trump previously said in media interviews that the order would initially last 90 days.

Does TikTok now work in the US?

TikTok confirmed it was restoring service in a statement Sunday on X. The company also thanked Trump for providing clarity and assurance to our service providers that they would not face any penalties.

According to American media NPR, TikTok hosts Oracle and Akamai have also restored their services.

US users were greeted with a welcome message to the app on Sunday and can now use it. The post read in part: Thanks to President Trump's efforts, TikTok is back in the United States.

Earlier on Saturday, users accessing the site were only able to see a notification stating: A law banning TikTok has been enacted in the United States. Unfortunately, this means you can't use TikTok at the moment.

TikTok President Shou Zi Chew also sent a note to advertisers on Sunday, saying the app would be back online for a majority of U.S. users, according to a report from tech site The Verge. We anticipate some temporary instability in the service which could affect advertising in the United States, he wrote, including live advertising campaigns.

A TikTok content creator joins pro-TikTok protesters in front of the US Capitol in Washington, DC on April 23, 2024. [Mariam Zuhaib/AP]
Is TikTok available in app stores again?

Not yet. New downloads via the Google or Apple app stores were no longer possible on Monday and only users who downloaded the app before the ban could potentially access it. Google said it had suspended downloads and cited U.S. legal requirements.

Meanwhile, the Apple Store said that the TikTok and ByteDance apps are not available in the country or region you are in.

The law banning TikTok includes heavy fines for companies that provide support services to the company.

Why was the app banned?

Concerns about TikTok have persisted for years. In 2020, then-U.S. President Trump spearheaded an initial effort to ban the platform and pushed Microsoft to acquire it. TikTok, however, agreed at the time to partner with Oracle on data protection technology.

Republicans and Democrats have continued to push for a ban on TikTok on national security grounds and in the face of concerns about confidential data leaks. Officials claimed the Chinese government could access the data of more than 170 million U.S. users through parent company ByteDance and manipulate the algorithm to promote Chinese propaganda.

In March 2023, Congress questioned TikTok Chairman Chew for five hours, questioning China's alleged influence over the app. Chew insisted he had no evidence that the Chinese government had accessed or requested data to access US user data.

However, in March 2024, lawmakers passed the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act (PAFACA). In this context, ByteDance received an ultimatum: either cede its ownership to an American entity or cease its activities. In April, outgoing US President Joe Biden signed it. The new policy gave TikTok a deadline of January 19, 2025 by which it must comply or be banned.

TikTok challenged the ban in an appeals court and then in the U.S. Supreme Court, arguing that it violated the right to free speech. On Friday, the court upheld the law, dealing a major blow to the company. Other ByteDance apps, such as video editing app CapCut and video sharing platform Lemon8, have also been blacklisted.

Are there allegations of racial scapegoating?

Analysts have expressed concern over what they see as bias in the case and point out that other social media sites pose similar data mining risks, but that TikTok is being singled out because that it is owned by Chinese entrepreneurs.

Some Chinese Americans, in particular, have called the ban bias and an example of racial scapegoating. There are fears that other Chinese companies, such as Alipay, could also be targeted if the ban on TikTok continues.

Rights groups such as Asian Americans Advancing Justice (AAJC) strongly opposed the ban, calling it xenophobic.

Calls to target and ban TikTok for privacy violations that are regularly committed by US companies like Meta and Alphabet are extremely hypocritical and steeped in xenophobia, the AAJC said in a statement following the signing of the projects. of law last April.

American tennis player Coco Gauff writes RIP TikTok USA after defeating Switzerland's Belinda Bencic in a fourth-round match at the Australian Open in Melbourne, Australia, Sunday, January 19, 2025. [Asanka Brendon Ratnayake/AP]
What were the reactions to the Trump order?

Some Republican lawmakers opposed Trump's announcement. On Sunday, Senators Tom Cotton and Pete Ricketts said in a joint statement that there was no legal basis for any extension unless ByteDance agreed to sever ties between TikTok and China.

Senators praised Apple, Google, Microsoft and Amazon for following the law. We encourage other companies to do the same, they added, warning that companies cooperating with TikTok risk ruinous bankruptcy.

Elon Musk, founder of X and close Trump ally, has spoken out against banning TikTok which he says could violate free speech. On Sunday, Musk reiterated his position, but said the current situation, in which TikTok is allowed to operate in America, but X is not allowed to operate in China, is unbalanced.

Twitter is also officially banned in China. Businesses and government accounts use the platform, but only through a government-approved virtual private network (VPN).

Despite this, at a press conference on Monday, Chinese Foreign Minister Mao Ning urged the United States to provide an open, free, fair and non-discriminatory business environment, saying TikTok had boosted employment in the United States.

Ning also reacted to Musk's statement, saying: “We welcome Internet companies from all countries to expand in China provided that they comply with Chinese laws and regulations and provide safe and reliable products and services .

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