
TikTok is one of the most popular social media apps today, ranking just below Meta’s platforms, Facebook and Instagram, on number of downloads as of March 2024. Despite the app’s popularity, public opinion varies widely about TikTok.
In March 2023, 61 percent of people favored a ban on the app. However, 232.14 million users downloaded the app within that financial quarter and TikTok influencers lobbied in Washington, D.C. against the ban last December. In the middle of the mixed opinions and arguments, newly inaugurated President Trump switched his stance from wanting to ban the app in 2021 to embracing the CEO at his inauguration.
In July of 2020, President Trump openly supported a TikTok ban as a way to “retaliate against China” for the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic. Trump’s comments also follow a rally disaster where younger users on TikTok reserved seats at his rally with no intention of attending. It resulted in nearly no attendance to what originally looked like a booked out event.
Along with this attack on President Trump’s ego, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Director Chris Wray cited national security concerns about control over the app’s recommendation algorithm and its potential use for “influence operations,” including manipulating algorithms to interfere with Americans’ public opinion.
The leading concern about the ByteDance owned social media company — a Chinese company — is the possibility that the app’s United States (U.S.) user data has been shared with the Chinese government. However, TikTok’s Chief Operating Officer Vanessa Pappas, made a statement that they would “never share data with government officials.”

TikTok wasn’t the only app to go dark on Jan. 18 as several other lesser-known apps, such as CapCut, Lemon8, and Lark, are no longer available in app stores or have ceased operation within the U.S. entirely. Meanwhile, other popular Chinese owned apps — like Temu and Shein — still remain active.
Most notably, in the wake of this potentially indefinite TikTok ban, the Chinese app, RedNote — otherwise known as Xiaohongshu or “Little Red Book” — has won over many previous TikTok users. With short form videos and a similar e-commerce platform, RedNote functions largely the same way as TikTok. Although the app is Chinese-owned and headquartered in Shanghai, the platform was not included in the national ban.
The fact that Shein and Temu, along with RedNote, are still functioning in the U.S. raises questions about the true intention of the TikTok ban. These e-commerce apps have the capability to collect the same information TikTok can and are subject to the same laws as ByteDance, yet they still exist in the U.S.
Over recent years, TikTok has become a hub for sharing information outside of news media sources, which means word can spread fast around the world. News media outlets are far easier to control and censor than individuals on social media platforms. The banning of TikTok makes it clear that the government is really trying to stop the power of a social platform operated outside of the U.S.
As the threat of a TikTok ban became more real, Trump unexpectedly switched sides during his last election campaign. In June of 2024, he joined TikTok with a personal account to campaign on the platform, shortly after his opponent, former Vice President Kamala Harris, joined the platform.
When the app went dark, a surprising message was shared the night before the ban went

into effect that read, “We are fortunate that President Trump has indicated that he will work with us on a solution to reinstate TikTok once he takes office.” The app was later down in the U.S. for only 14 hours before it returned with a message attributing credit to Trump, “As a result of President Trump’s efforts, TikTok is back in the U.S.!”
This unprofessional popup notification mirrors many of the self-praising egoistic comments Trump has made himself, making it clear that this was nothing but an attempt by the company to get close with the President-Elect.
Staging himself as the savior of TikTok, President Trump hopes to gain the favor of the 34.8 percent of TikTok users aged 18 to 24 and 51 percent of voters aged 18 to 29 who voted for Former Vice President Harris. This means that the age demographic that holds Harris’ largest lead is over a third of the users on TikTok.
In addition to these messages, TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew also posted a video on the platform thanking President Trump personally “on behalf of TikTok and all our users across the country” for “his commitment to work with us to find a solution that keeps TikTok available in the United States.” All of this — the ban and TikTok’s messages thanking Trump — happened before his actual inauguration.
But, Chew isn’t the only giant tech CEO falling in line with President Trump. This theatrical gratitude towards the President comes hot on the heels of other tech CEOs, including Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg and X CEO Elon Musk, supporting President Trump despite having distanced themselves from him upon his first presidential win in 2016.
In 2016, Facebook — now known as Meta — began an effort to counteract misinformation in direct response to worries that online hoaxes had contributed to President Trump’s first presidential victory. Just recently, however, this fact-checking program was abandoned altogether. Now, with the President’s newfound relationship with Chew, Trump has every major social media CEO in his pocket upon the beginning of his second term.
With a Republican House and Senate majority, the oversized influence of social media platforms is just one more thing to worry about. Despite the facade of content creation and recommendations being “user run,” social media companies have majority control over algorithm changes and removal or hiding of content. With every major platform’s CEO catering to Trump, the possibility of censorship and First Amendment violations is a serious concern.