TikTok is a major social media platform composed of short videos that can range from fifteen seconds to ten minutes. Formerly known as musical.ly, the app immediately gained an audience. Young people use the app to connect with friends about what they are doing, view news updates and watch tutorials.
“I use TikTok to waste time if I am waiting for something,” junior Maya Loy said.
The app is owned by a Chinese company called ByteDance. In the summer of 2020, President Donald Trump declared his ideas about a TikTok ban to keep American data private and protect national security. Since then, there have been lengthy debates on whether or not Americans should be able to use TikTok.
Last April, a law passed forcing ByteDance to sell TikTok to a neutral party to avoid having its app banned in the United States. The company did not seem interested in complying with those requests.
As the news spread about TikTok being banned, influencers shared their last confessions, old trends were brought back, and friends posted their old videos to say goodbye to the app.
“I was distraught when I heard it was getting banned, but I never really thought it would be permanent,” senior Stella Taylor said. “I thought it was dumb when people started posting their drafts.”
Nearly 170 million users in America experienced a TikTok shutdown on Saturday, January 18. It was early and unexpected because the ban was believed to start on Sunday, January 19. TikTok released a message accompanying the sudden crash.
“It was unexpected because I thought it would be at midnight, but it was nine instead,” Loy said.
TikTok returned in the afternoon of January 19, only around 14 hours after the crash. Trump signed an executive order on Monday, January 20, giving the company an extension for selling the app. A new message popped up to welcome American users back.
Although the app began to work again, those who deleted it cannot re-download it. Information has not been released on whether these people will have an opportunity to redownload the app.
“I am mad because I deleted it, and I am upset that I cannot download it again,” sophomore Saiduby Valdez said. “I am wondering why it is not in the app store.”
For those who still have the app, it is most likely not being updated. There has also not been any clear information as to whether or not TikTok is here to stay.
American TikTok users feel the app’s removal violates their First Amendment rights. The app has been used as an information provider for many different opinions about political events and as a way to share news.
