Back in early January, many people were concerned about what was going to happen to TikTok, the popular social media platform, after it was publicly announced that there would be a ban placed on the app. On the evening of January 19th, users opened TikTok to a message stating that it had been banned in the U.S. and that the company was working to restore service. Many people were distraught over the ban, including viewers and creators as many small businesses and influencers made their money through their accounts and videos.
Within twelves hours, people were suddenly able to open it again with no problem. This was because the ban deadline had been extended. Everyone was relieved that it was back, however people who had decided on removing the app after the ban would have to wait a while to get it back as it was removed from Appstore and Playstore and didn’t return until a little later.
The ban was a huge deal across the U.S. and many had spoke out against it as TikTok has become a huge source of entertainment, inspiration, and even educational content. Many people were so happy that it was no longer banned that they didn’t realize the reasoning for that was because the deadline had officially been extended to a later date and would not be back permanently unless an agreement was met between the China-based developer company, Bytedance, and the U.S., which would require Bytedance to sell TikTok to an American owner. Up until this point, this still had not happened, and on the following deadline of April 5th, the ban was extended yet again for another 75 days.
As of right now, the next deadline will be on June 19. Until then, negotiations are still being made on whether TikTok will get sold to an American owner by Bytedance or get banned. Last week, an agreement had been met that Bytedance could not own more than 20% of the platform, and negotiations were made surrounding the algorithm of the app. Just when it seemed TikTok was permanently saved, Bytedance backed out of the deal due to complications surrounding the tariffs. This is when it was decided that the deadline would be extended again.
What’s really going to end up happening to TikTok? No one can know for sure. Many people hope an agreement will be made so that the app can stay around. If it were able to, it would help a lot of influencers who make the majority of their money off of their account. It would also save multiple small businesses who also make their living through their content.
As of now, the best thing to do is hope for the best, and if you are worried that it might get banned you could consider a few alternative choices. It’s hard to imagine something we use on an everyday basis and that has become such a major application to just disappear. For now, people can just keep up with any updates over the subject until the next decision is made.
