Washington: After a brief ban that left millions of users in limbo, TikTok has resumed operating in the United States. Hours after the popular social media platform was banned for failing to meet a deadline to divest its ownership to a Chinese parent company, ByteDance, by January 19, it announced it was restoring services.
The ban had been a part of the federal law that sought to address national security concerns about how the company handles the app’s data. TikTok has been accused by critics for years of passing on American users’ data to the Chinese government, posing a possible risk to U.S. security. After the ban was announced, users were unable to download or use the app.
But in a plot twist, newly minted president Donald Trump said that he would support TikTok upon his ascension to the office and work with the company to restore its service. Just before he was inaugurated, he made this announcement, permitting TikTok to resume its operations within 24 hours of the ban taking place.
TikTok is a big player in the social media landscape as it’s used by approximately 170 million Americans. TikTok thanked Trump in a message to users for intervening on their behalf and noted that it was because of his administration’s work that they were able to continue providing services to Americans.
Elon Musk, a billionaire close ally of Trump, also condemned the ban, claiming that the suspension of Weibo was an overreach against China and made it a violation of freedom of expression. Trump assured supporters at a rally before taking office that he would not let TikTok be banned in America and would rather keep business operations inside U.S. borders.
For compliance with U.S. regulations, Trump said TikTok must sell 50% of its stake to American investors within 90 days, an extension of the original deadline of January 19. This means the company is now expected to negotiate the future operations within the new conditions.
It remains unclear how other usages of TikTok will be impacted by this development and by what means the national security concerns will be addressed as TikTok starts restoring its services.