In what has become a never-ending saga, the clock app is back after a somewhat messy weekend. But for how long?
On Monday, President Trump signed an executive order aimed at delaying implementation of the federal TikTok ban, which was upheld by the Supreme Court last week and went into effect on Sunday, for 75 days. The legality of using an executive order to halt enforcement of a federal law is not yet clear, and it could face legal challenges. Late in his first term, Trump sought efforts to ban TikTok, but those were blocked by a federal judge.
When signing the executive order this time around, Trump said he changed his mind about the platform because he “got to use it.” He also said he believes the US “should be entitled to get half of TikTok” if a deal to buy the app is reached, but did not elaborate on any deals potentially in the works.
As the legality of the executive order is ironed out, Google and Apple have removed several ByteDance apps, including TikTok, CapCut, and Lemon8, from their app stores in accordance with the divest-or-ban law, which could subject them to billions of dollars in fines if they continued making the apps available to download. Apple said on its website that it is “obligated to follow the laws in the jurisdictions where it operates.” Those who have ByteDance apps already downloaded continue to have access and TikTok remains accessible via web browser.
Reckless a(ban)don? In the days between the Supreme Court decision and the executive order, US TikTok users were subject to a messaging rollercoaster that made the app’s current status and future seem all the more confusing. On Saturday, a day before the ban went into effect, users were met with a series of pop-up messages notifying them that the app was unavailable, including one that said the company was “fortunate that President Trump has indicated that he will work with [it] on a solution to reinstate TikTok once he takes office.”
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By Sunday afternoon, the app had a new pop-up stating that TikTok was back in the US “as a result of President Trump’s efforts.” Trump was sworn in the next day with TikTok CEO Shou Chew in attendance alongside other major tech CEOs.
A new era? While conservative TikTokers celebrated after Trump was inaugurated and issued the executive order, others described the back-and-forth as a PR “stunt” from TikTok (something the Biden administration also said prior to the app’s brief shutdown), while others expressed concern about what it could mean for the platform long-term, especially as other social media platforms, like X and Meta, move to the right.
“Does this new era of TikTok feel icky to anyone else?” creator Hannah Chody asks in a video posted Monday. “This isn’t the TikTok that we had on Saturday night.”
On Tuesday, Business Insider reported that Meta would pay some TikTok creators to post on Instagram and Facebook, and Meta announced this weekend that it would release a CapCut-like video editing app called Instagram Edits next month—further proof that, at least for now, it’s still TikTok’s world, and we’re all just posting in it.
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