Mere hours after TikTok went dark in the United States on Sunday (January 19), the popular video sharing app was back, leaving many people scratching their heads.
According to reports, there was nothing that could be done until President-elect Donald Trump took office on Monday (January 20). But soon, the Chinese company confirmed it was in the process of restoring service in a statement posted to Twitter and, once again, praised Trump for his part in restoring it.
As TikTok Policy tweeted, “We thank President Trump for providing the necessary clarity and assurance to our service providers that they will face no penalties providing TikTok to over 170 million Americans and allowing over 7 million small businesses to thrive.”
It continued, “It’s a strong stand for the First Amendment and against arbitrary censorship. We will work with President Trump on a long-term solution that keeps TikTok in the United States.”
A new message on TikTok reads: “Welcome back! Thanks for your patience and support. As a result of President Trump’s efforts, TikTok is back in the U.S. You can continue to create, share and discover all the things you love on TikTok.”
TikTok’s Chinese parent company, ByteDance, was given nine months to either sell the platform’s U.S. business or be banned from the country, something they failed to do. In a post shared to Truth Social, Trump vowed to issue an executive order that would extend the deadline by 90 days.
People are both confused and skeptical about the app’s sudden restoration.
As one person pointed out, “Congratulations, Democrats. The TikTok ban was initiated by Trump, passed through the House and Senate along bipartisan lines, yet because President Biden signed the bill into law, Democrats allowed Trump to be the hero on this, politically. Absolute malpractice by leadership.”
Many believe it was nothing but a publicity stunt to make Trump look good. Another person noted, “LMAO this TikTok ban is nothing but a stunt for Trump to come in and ‘lift’ and pretend he did something for us. Stop falling for this crap please.”
Another comment reiterated, “As Trump prepares to “save” TikTok, let’s not forget all of this started because Trump wanted to ban TikTok during his first term. He breaks it. Then he takes credit for fixing it. Trump’s entire life can be summarized in this manner,” while yet another person added, “Crazy PR stunt. Praising Trump for bringing back tiktok after a day when he didn’t do s### to stop the genocide and hasn’t done anything to help end the LA fires.”
Whatever the case, TikTok is back for its 170 million user, but it’s unclear for how long. Stay tuned as the sage continues to develope.