On Jan, 18 at 10:30 p.m. EST, a notification popped up on millions of TikTok users phones, stating that TikTok is not available.
The first threat to ban TikTok was in 2020, as a request from President Donald Trump. Now, he disagrees with the federal law banning the app. It was stated that the company ByteDance had to sell TikTok to an American owned company before Jan. 19, or the app would be shutdown.
On the night of Jan. 18, the company ByteDance, decided to shut TikTok down before Congress could uphold the federal law that would ban the social media app. This was unexpected among those who use the app. Many creators on TikTok remade videos that made them famous. Even compilations of posts were made, which reminisced the culture of the app.
So called “Influencers” on Tik Tok feared their demonetization. Katie Fang, a well know influencer, got her rise to fame when she posted a video of her crying because she had to go into work. Now, she is invited to go on brand trips across the world and it’s speculated that she lives in a $10,000 apartment in New York City at the age of 19. When hearing news of this ban, she initially freaked out, realizing her source of income would crumble so she downloaded a VPN.
Less than 24 hours later, when TikTok was opened, the app welcomed American users back and allowed them to use the app, once again. President Doanld Trump signed an executive order that allows for a 75 day extension of the app being sold to an American company. The future of TikTok is unknown as the country waits to see if ByteDance will sell the app.
