Currently, the law to ban TikTok (owned by “ByteDance”) in the United States has become a trending topic of conversation, given that the time the US Supreme Court gave the platform to be sold or to negotiate a solution is soon expiring.
On April 20, 2024, a legislation against TikTok was passed, outlining that the app posed a national security and privacy threat to all Americans. As of today, nine months later, an agreement has still not been reached between the American government and ByteDance, which would mean, by the law passed, that TikTok would be banned on Sunday, January 19th.
TikTok’s CEO, Zi Chew, has consistently challenged the law, stating that it violates the free speech of Americans. However, the US Supreme Court has invalidated his argument, saying that the law passed does not seek to regulate TikTok users’ freedom of speech but the data collection of the platform. Several American lawmakers have expressed their discontent with the ban, some supporting Zi Chew’s argument, while others providing their own explanation. Most agree that the only solution for the platform to remain available in the US and avoid the ban would be for TikTok to be divested from its parent company, ByteDance.
US President Joe Biden claimed that TikTok should remain available to Americans under American ownership or ownership that does threaten national security. On the other hand, President-elect Donald Trump has considered enacting an executive order that suspends the platform’s “ban-or-sale” law for two to three additional months to ensure there is more time to negotiate with the company. Many public personalities, such as Elon Musk, have approached TikTok executives to buy the app, but their attempts have not been successful. The app’s executives declined Musk’s offer due to his ongoing debt with X (former Twitter) platform. Other entrepreneurs and businessmen have encouraged Trump to use TikTok as a negotiating tool for other issues, such as international trade agreements or tariffs.
Many TikTok influencers have shared their success stories by uploading videos on the platform and have voiced their concerns about the ban possibly taking away their jobs as “content creators”. Some of them, as well as other American TikTok users, have moved to “RedNote” (Xiaohongshu), a Chinese social media app where jokes are shared with Chinese users about the prohibition of TikTok in the United States.
The increasing interaction between American and Chinese users on the RedNote app has fostered a sense of community, where both nationalities can share concerns over culture, education, and other important topics. This cultural spillover has been noted on other apps, such as Duolingo, which has seen a 216% increase in Mandarin learning, a figure never observed before.
Despite different points of view between government officials and users of the app, there is still an unknown future for TikTok. With the start of the Trump administration, new efforts to keep the platform are expected but the unwillingness of TikTok owners to sell might pose new challenges.
