Why is TikTok still on my phone after the Ban?

Written by: Keya Gambhir

TikTok users throughout the US received a notification last Saturday saying, “Sorry, TikTok isn’t available right now.” This was because of the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act, which came into place on January 19th and banned TikTok from our phones…or did it? Why did TikTok go dark for 15 hours? Why did it come back? Both are great questions and today I will answer them for you.

To begin, it is important to understand why TikTok was banned in the first place. U.S. Officials believe that TikTok can be used as a vehicle for the Chinese government to spy on American users, and influence public narrative by curating an algorithm to their advantage. Senator Josh Hawley of Missouri stated, "If you have TikTok on your phone currently, it can track your whereabouts, it can read your text messages, it can track your keystrokes. It has access to your phone records." This means that TikTok can access a lot of our data, and can use it however they want. This is vital to acknowledge as the Chinese government having access to this information exceeds being a national threat and becomes a matter of personal safety. 

However, TikTok isn’t all bad. Clearly, many people love the app, as it has about 1.6 billion users worldwide who actively engage with content on the platform. People in support of TikTok say that banning it infringes on their First Amendment rights, taking away Americans’ free speech. Many users love engaging with communities they are a part of on the app, and can’t imagine finding a platform that offers the same level of entertainment. In addition, Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky said that "[TikTok has] never been tried and found guilty of sharing information with the communist government." TikTok has never been found to actually engage in the activities that they are accused of participating in, leading many to disagree with the ban. 

Regardless of how users felt about the app, Bytedance, TikTok’s parent company, was given two options. Option A was to sell TikTok to an American company, which would allow it to remain in the United States before the deadline of January 19, 2025. Option B was not to sell and for American users to lose access to the app on the day the deadline was set.

So, late on January 18th, TikTok users in the United States received a message stating that the app was no longer available in the country. This upset many users of the platform and its content creators, who lost connection to their audiences. However, this ban lasted only 15 hours.

TikTok stated on X: "In agreement with our service providers, TikTok is in the process of restoring service. We thank President Trump for providing the necessary clarity and assurance to our service providers that they will face no penalties providing TikTok to over 170 million Americans and allowing over 7 million small businesses to thrive.” Trump had stated that he intended to reinstate the service while in office. He had made a statement saying, “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. The order will also confirm that there will be no liability for any company that helped keep TikTok from going dark before my order.” 

Trump, who had called for a ban during his first term as president, publicly backed TikTok during his campaign, promising to keep it open. Trump has suggested a joint venture for TikTok in which a company from the United States would own 50% of the platform, but even that plan may encounter difficulties. The law has a 20% cap for foreign ownership, and this plan would exceed that limit, making it unclear if ByteDance could surpass this. 

The future of TikTok in the United States is very up in the air right now and is understandably upsetting for users who love the platform. However, it is important to remain aware of the positives and negatives associated with the platform before investing too much sadness in its loss. How do you feel about the TikTok ban? Feel free to reach out using our contact form to let us know if you learned something new!