Culminating weeks of anxious chatter and painful online goodbyes amongst its users, the short-lived TikTok ban, issued on Saturday, Jan. 18, delivered 150 million Americans with the news that TikTok was officially being banned. Moments before the ban, TikTok shared the unfortunate news on their app’s interface with a note that reflected their regret towards the U.S. law, and highlighted the temporary nature of the ban. As Americans got the message, they immediately began shifting to other popular social media apps such as Instagram, posting panicked stories or satirical posts.
After the disabling of the app’s functions, TikTok was officially removed from all app stores in the United States to prevent new users from downloading and accessing it. However, just a few hours later, on Monday, Jan. 20, President Trump signed an executive order postponing the ban for 75 days. Shortly after, TikTok posted a welcome-back message on their interface that thanked users for their patience and support. However, to the surprise of many, this return received mixed feelings: in the short period of time that the world witnessed TikTok go dark and be revived again, seeing a welcome-back was confusing for all users. The future of the app still remains vastly unclear for not only its users, but numerous members of the global community that have been hooked to the vast media coverage of the situation.
“It was really weird and off-putting as to why [the government] would ban [TikTok] just to bring it back in less than 12 hours,” Michael Solis ‘26 said. “I think if they wanted to actually ban it they should have just fully banned it [and not caused such confusion].”
Since TikTok appears to be seemingly back for the foreseeable future, users seemed to have calmed down from the commotion of the temporary loss. As of now, some users of the platform speculate that the entire ordeal was a political propaganda campaign, holding the belief that President Trump and his cabinet were aiming to garner significant Gen Z support to aid in the remainder of his term.
“I feel it was pretty obvious that it was all propaganda,” Emma Mendoza ‘26 said. “The fact that people [are getting] so heavily influenced is upsetting and unbelievable.”
As time progresses, many users seem to be experiencing a decline in TikTok usage that stands in stark contrast to the passion with which the same people advocated for the platform’s return. A phenomenon many users themselves comment on, less people seem concerned about the future of TikTok after realizing the true impact of the short time away from it. The volume of other social media platforms present also significantly diverted users’ attention, resulting in TikTok losing some of its virtual importance.
“I mean at the end of the day TikTok is just one of the popular social media platforms,” Jonathan Steinke ‘26 said. “There’s Instagram reels, there’s Facebook, there’s Twitter (X), and now RedNote. Do we [even] really need TikTok?”
With the constant decisional fluctuations of the app regarding its ban status, the future of TikTok is undecided and uncertain. Avid fans of the platform eagerly hope it stays, but with rumors of data theft, security shortcomings, and supposed spread of propaganda, many former TikTok users have found their interest in the platform waning. The core root of the problem, as many users identify it, is that TikTok’s owner company, ByteLab, is resistant in selling the platform to an American-owned business — one of the government requirements to reissue the app permanently. While famous American billionaires such as Mr. Beast have made jokes about buying the app, ByteLab has yet to confirm nor deny their decision or prospects on selling to an American-based company.
“At the end of the day who cares? I have the app, but I don’t use it anyway,” Graphic Design teacher Ms. Tiffany Carpenter said. “Life goes on.”
