TikTok Ban: A New Precedent for Social Media
Written by Paige Tamasi
As TikTok draws to a close in the United States, a mass exodus occurs as users frantically try to find an alternative to the short-form media app. The US Supreme Court’s upholding of Congress’ decision to ban the Chinese-affiliated app has raised questions in many people’s minds—primarily, can the government do this? This article will address some of the most common concerns about the TikTok situation.
Can the US (or My Country) Ban TikTok?
Naturally, this depends on a country’s political structure, so for this article, we will focus on the United States of America. The US Congress has been metaphorically up in arms about the social media platform since 2019; only recently has it passed a law that provides an ultimatum to TikTok: get sold by your Chinese parent company or face a USA ban.
The Supreme Court did review this law, as many people (including the representatives at TikTok) thought that a country-wide ban would be an infringement on people’s First Amendment rights: free speech, free press, and assembly. Free speech was a debate because banning a social media platform where people naturally meet to debate, share opinions, etc. is seen as problematic and potentially infringing on those rights. Free press because many news outlets provide headlines and brief clips (TikToks) covering current events. Assembly is slightly different as it is a digital assembly; however, many people can live broadcast and host live casts with thousands of people. The Supreme Court found none of these rights violated by the TikTok ban, so the law will go through.
So, yes. The US and other countries can ban your favourite social media apps. TikTok is banned in Bangladesh, parts of China, India, Iran, Jordan, Kyrgyzstan, and Albania. However, it is restricted in many more countries. Take a swing at Meta’s social media, the parent company of Instagram and Facebook where many TikTok members are fleeing after the ban: FaceBook is banned in China, Myanmar, North Korea, Russia, Turkmenistan, and Uganda. Other countries have banned Facebook but have also unbanned the app at a later date.
There is a New US President, Can He Stop the Ban?
The short answer is yes. With an executive order, the new US President Donald Trump can delay the ban. An executive order is, essentially, a direct order from the president with the power of law. They can be overturned by presidents or reinstated. So if Trump places an executive order to unban Tiktok, then Tiktok will remain unbanned until the next president. At that point, the next president will have the chance to reinstate the executive order, extending the life of Tiktok in the US, or reverse it allowing the Congressional law to go into effect.
Trump recently went on record to say he would provide a 90 temporary lift of the ban. He said the 90-extension would be “appropriate”, repeating that word several times and conveying that he can provide an extension as “the one who is going to be calling the shots” and that afterwards, they can figure it out. This extension may be due to the “warm spot” he has for TikTok, as it helped convince many young voters to support him in the 2024 election. This may be why the TikTok CEO was at Trump’s inauguration or perhaps there is another reason why the TikTok CEO was at Trump’s inauguration and that is why Trump is delaying the ban.
What is interesting about Trump’s choice here is that back in 2020 he tipped the first domino that led to this ban.
Wait What? Trump is Reversing the Ban He Wanted?
Yes. Nearing the end of Trump’s first four years as president he enacted an executive order (Trump loves executive orders) in an attempt to order TikTok to sell its assets to the US, exactly the ultimatum given recently to TikTok.
Trump also mentioned looking into the banning of TikTok back in 2020. He mentioned this as a way to get even with China for the coronavirus (Trump was very insistent that the coronavirus was entirely China’s fault). This mention of a ban back in 2020 continued preexisting talks about the potential cybersecurity threat that TikTok may pose.
So, while Trump is delaying the ban on TikTok now, do not forget that he initiated the ban.
Can the US Ban Other Apps?
With this Congressional law setting a precedent, yes the USA could potentially ban other apps. However, they would have to make similar reasoning to the TikTok ban; meaning the apps would have to pose an international cybersecurity risk. The US Congress deemed TikTok unsafe for the country due to security risks in the data and how the Chinese government could manipulate that data to harm Americans’ harm. If the government found a similar app with a similar data protection flaw, then they could ban that app as well, or at least attempt to use the TikTok law.
Where Are TikTok Users Going?
Many members of TikTok are fleeing to a Chinese app called Xiaohongshu or RedNote; it is affectionately called ‘the little red book’ by many Americans who are suddenly using the app. Other people turn to YouTube and their YouTube Shorts for their short-form content. Or Instagram’s reels. Or Facebook’s. There seems to be no shortage of short-term vertical content for people to enjoy once TikTok is banned.
Wait What About Those Influencers?
TikTok became such a huge international success for many reasons, including the massive amounts of money that can be made as an influencer. With the TikTok ban, many US influencers push their community to follow them on different platforms or find a way around the ban. The question about whether US content creators will still get paid based on previously created content (ie. do their pages get deleted or can people still view their content internationally) is up in the air.
With TikTok being banned, many are sad to lose an app that brings them joy. To read about ‘What Makes Us Happy’ go here!
Written by Paige Tamasi. Edited by Paige Tamasi. Photography by cottonbro studio. Published by Paige Tamasi.