Chinese-owned social media apps have had a whirlwind few days. The U.S. Supreme Court recently ruled that TikTok should be banned for users in the United States due to security concerns. It stated that the now delayed ban is “designed to prevent China - a designated foreign adversary - from leveraging its control over ByteDance to capture the personal data of US TikTok users.”
On Friday, TikTok announced it would suspend access to its platform for more than 170 million U.S.-based users starting Sunday, in a statement, it said: The statements issued today by both the Biden White House and the Department of Justice have failed to provide the necessary clarity and assurance to the service providers that are integral to maintaining TikTok's availability to over 170 million Americans. Unless the Biden Administration immediately provides a definitive statement to satisfy the most critical service providers assuring non-enforcement, unfortunately TikTok will be forced to go dark on January 19.”
On January 19, the app experienced a shutdown, with many users receiving the following message: “Important update from TikTok: We regret that a U.S. law banning TikTok will take effect on January 19, forcing us to make our services temporarily unavailable. We're working to restore our service in the U.S. as soon as possible and appreciate your support. Please stay tuned.” TikTok’s popular video editing app, CapCut, also issued a message similar to that of its users.
However, after just 14 hours, the platform was unbanned, a move attributed to the “result of President Trump’s efforts.” In an official statement, TikTok said: “In agreement with our service providers, TikTok is in the process of restoring service. We thank President Trump for providing the necessary clarity and assurance to our service providers that they will face no penalties for providing TikTok to over 170 million Americans and allowing over 7 million small businesses to thrive.
“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.”
TikTok hosts over 1.04 billion active users worldwide, with 170 million of those located in the US. The app is currently one of the most popular social media sites worldwide, behind Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and WhatsApp. A prolonged ban in the U.S. could have significant internal repercussions due to reduced user engagement, which might impact the allocation of resources and restructuring within its product and engineering teams. However, the long-term outcome remains uncertain as it is unclear how sustainable the unbanning is or whether ByteDance and the U.S. government can reach a lasting agreement.
Image credit: Backlinko
While TikTok has been battling legal proceedings with the Supreme Court, Instagram seized the moment to announce an expansion of its Reels feature. Adam Mosseri, Head of Instagram, shared on his profile that Reels will be increased from 90 seconds to 3 minutes. “We hope that increasing the limit to three minutes will help you tell the stories you really want to share,” he said in a video statement.
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