The Rundown – 

The well known app TikTok, popularly used by over 170 million Americans, has been in and out of court and its ability to be accessible in the US continues to be debated. Recently, the TikTok ban was the talk of the town on the app, users with large platforms saying their goodbyes, drafts being posted, and old trends coming around again in honor of TikTok’s final days. Many users did not know if this ban would be permanent or temporary and the whole situation was very vague. The end result ended up being a ban lasting a total of 12 hours before president trump signed an executive order stating that the ban would be postponed for another 75 days, allowing more time for an American company to buy Tik Tok. If an American company does not buy TikTok within this 75 day extension, TikTok will be banned in the United States. 

Why Did TikTok Go Dark? – 

Tik Tok was banned for the safety of Americans and the protection of personal data belonging to US tik tok users. In other terms, ByteDance, the parent company to TikTok, is subject to Chinese laws, simply meaning that all data TikTok is collecting could be shared with the Chinese government if they were to ask for it. ByteDance has no control over what information they can keep or share, because the Chinese government has the ability and power to access and even control the private data of tiktok. This is why it is important that an American company buys TikTok in order to protect citizens’ private information, while also keeping the app available to US users and content creators. 

TikTok’s Input- 

TikTok has spoken their thoughts on the situation, and their response follows. According to axios.com, “TikTok’s Chinese owners have slow walked negotiations over a sale while waiting for a signal from the Chinese government, which could be willing to let TikTok die in the U.S. rather than concede to a deal with trade and tech policy concessions, the Washington Post reported, citing sources familiar with the matter.” This implies that recent conversations with TikTok owner Zhang Yiming, also the founder of TikTok’s parent company ByteDance, show that TikTok may not be willing to allow an American company to buy tiktok, ultimately leading to the ban. Although, even more recent conversations show that TikTok may have a chance of life in the US. 

Back on App Stores – 

After TikTok’s 12 hour ban was over, the app was back online although only for users who did not delete the app. If a previous user or someone who wanted to download the app after the ban tried to download the app, it would not appear on any app store. This is because although the app was back online, it was still erased off of all downloading services. Just recently as of February 13th, TikTok is now available on Apple and Google app stores.