TikTok is an app that does not require an introduction. Known for its massive popularity, this video-sharing social media platform is one of the most downloaded apps worldwide today. After being merged with the now-retired Musical.ly in 2017, TikTok (also known as Douyin in China) skyrocketed in popularity. Its format was reworked to promote binge-watching, and users were encouraged to share more than just dance-centered videos. Posts sharing cooking tips, makeup tutorials and various viral challenges. They began to flood the app, and the new variety of content took the platform’s popularity to another level.
TikTok would go on to enjoy several more years of extreme traction, up to the present day. Why, then, was it voluntarily (and strangely enough, temporarily) shut down in 2025? The reasons for this decision began long before Jan. 19. As early as October 2019, certain lawmakers began to raise alarms about potential suspicious activity involving illegal data collection.
In February 2019, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) investigated TikTok after receiving reports of multiple violations of the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act which does not allow online services to collect any data from users under the age of 13 without parental permission. Any personal information, such as legal name or location, are illegal to collect without permission. In response to this, TikTok rearranged their services such that users found to be under 13 would be banned. The only way to appeal the ban would be to send in an image of a valid driver’s license or similar form of ID. This form of post-ban authentication still exists today.
In addition to this child privacy law controversy, TikTok was accused of collecting private data from government sources, even going so far as to be labeled a “security risk.” On Dec. 16, 2019, the Defense Department issued a Cyber Awareness Message urging all employees to remove the app, following in the footsteps of both the Army and Navy. The Pentagon would later ban TikTok on work-provided cellular devices.
In July 2020, India banned TikTok and several other Chinese-owned services in response to military disputes and security concerns. Many Indians turned to the recently released YouTube Shorts or Instagram Reels services for similar forms of entertainment, although many TikTok clones did try – and fail – to fill the void during that time. To this day, if you reside in India, you are unable to download or use TikTok.
Following this, President Donald Trump commented that he was considering banning TikTok in response to China’s supposed mishandling of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Look, what happened with China with this virus, what they’ve done to this country and to the entire world is disgraceful,” Trump said in a 2020 interview. “It’s something we’re looking at, yes.”
In August 2020, he would partially deliver on this statement, issuing an executive order banning the owner of TikTok, ByteDance, from being used in the U.S. As it was unclear if he was allowed to do this or not, no actual ban took place. TikTok sued the Trump administration for violation of due process in regards to executive orders. At the end of Trump’s first term, no real changes in regards to TikTok had occurred – it was essentially as if nothing had happened at all. Former President Joe Biden, a month after being sworn in, postponed any legal case involving Trump’s affiliation with TikTok. This would be the last of the news regarding TikTok bans for a couple years.
In April 2022, TikTok announced it had become the most downloaded app in the world, finally surpassing Instagram.
In March 2024, a fast-moving bill was introduced that, shockingly, saw bipartisan support. Biden agreed to sign the legislation if it was passed. This bill effectively forced ByteDance to either sell their stock in the company, or allow themselves to be banned in the United States. Certain civil liberties groups took issue with the bill, citing a breach of the first amendment. Influencer groups who make their living posting on TikTok traveled to Capitol Hill to protest, a trend that would continue off and on over the next couple of months. The House passed the bill, quickly followed by the Senate in 2024. Biden then signed the bill as previously promised. Tiktok, alongside ByteDance, quickly sued the U.S. government, stating that the law would be unconstitutional if upheld. This caused the ban to be put on pause as legal matters were figured out.
In June, Trump joined TikTok, (a platform he had previously sworn against) using it to promote his campaign. The next month, former Vice President Kamala Harris joined as well.
In December 2024, TikTok lost a major court battle in its attempt to sue the government, supposedly sealing its fate. Legislators backing the law agreed upon a Jan. 19, 2025 ban date, and all TikTok could do was wait. On Jan. 18, a few hours before the ban took effect at midnight, the app became unusable.
“We are fortunate that President Trump has indicated that he will work with us on a solution,” the app wrote in a platform-wide notification. “Please stay tuned!”
This direct mention of Trump, especially the positive light they were already painting him in, struck many as oddly specific. This was only furthered when, just 13 hours later, TikTok became usable once more. In a second mass notification, it directly thanked Trump, stating “As a result of President Trump’s efforts, TikTok is back in the U.S.!”
Videos were then available to U.S. users, all banned accounts had been restored and the app seemed as though it had returned to normal – though some became suspicious that the entire ordeal had been an elaborate stunt. Joel Thayer, a Washington, D.C.-based tech lawyer, claims that he assumes the event was manufactured.
“TikTok’s early shutdown either came down to corporate incompetence or a deliberate PR stunt to encourage a manufactured sense of panic,” he said in an interview with The New York Post. “Given the waffling, I assume the latter.”
Discourse on Twitter was mixed, with some rejoicing over the return of the app, and some laughing at the entire situation and calling it a PR trick.
“All of this has just been a wasted attempt to try to make Trump look better,” said one Twitter user, posting a gif of two people laughing. “So this was all a stunt to make Trump look good?” wrote another user only hours later.
TikTok’s functionality is so far secured – for at least 75 days. On Jan. 20, Trump signed an executive order delaying enforcement of the ban on Tiktok for around two months, meaning it isn’t going anywhere for the time being. What the extended future of this app looks like, however, still remains unclear.