Rumors of a TikTok ban have been haunting American users for over four years. In 2020 Trump signed an executive order stating that TikTok posed national security threats by stealing data and spreading propaganda. At the beginning of 2025, the federal government announced how TikTok would be banned on January 19th as long as the Supreme Court stated the law was constitutional. Since then, people have formulated many different opinions regarding the ban and questions relating to what will happen if the app does get banned.
If the app gets banned a report from BBC states that TikTok will be taken off the app store and internet services will not be allowed to support it on their platforms. Individual users who already have TikTok on their phones will not be able to update the app meaning after a while, TikTok will become unusable. People who do not have TikTok downloaded will not be able to download the app after the ban is enforced.
There is a way to get TikTok on the app store for rebellious users who want to defy the ban. The use of a VPN on a phone will allow people to change the region that their phone is in. With this, people can set their phone’s region to a place that did not ban TikTok and will be able to download the app on app-stores.
Teenagers are one of the main demographics on the TikTok app dating back to its start as Musically, a site for dancing and lip-syncing videos. TikTok has guided teens and young adults through tough and happy times over the past five years, with the app really gaining popularity during the pandemic in 2020. People ran to the site as a place of relief and disassociation from what was happening during the pandemic.
A lot of people view TikTok as a place to stay up to date on current events and is also a place where people spread or gain their political opinions. TikTok has seen two major elections in its time in both 2020 and 2024. With that, the app has seen a multitude of arguments, disputes, and conflicts over the discussion of American politics. People from all over the world had access to American ideologies and opinions.
At the end of 2024, word had spread that the government was really trying to lock down a TikTok ban before the end of former President Joe Biden’s term. People started keeping up to date with court hearings and rumors spreading around the media. After the Supreme Court ruled the ban of TikTok constitutional, it was looking like TikTok was actually going to get banned.
On January 18th, 2025, the app went dark with a screen stating that U.S. law had officially banned TikTok.
The ban people had questioned for many years was finally instated; however, the next day on January 19th, another screen popped up stating that President Donald Trump had saved the app even though he had not been sworn into office yet.
This caused people to conspire and discuss if the TikTok ban is for more reasons than just national security.
“I think that Trump created the ban during his first term because he originally felt that it was a threat to national security, but when he realized it helped his campaign and was an opportunity for propaganda to spread, he manipulated the situation and ‘saved’ TikTok to make himself a hero,” junior Leah Woods said.
Woods is not alone in her opinion.
“[I think] it’s just Trump trying to manipulate people into thinking he’s the hero,” senior Araya Feerer said.
No matter what is going on behind the scenes, President Trump did sign an executive order pushing back the ban by 90 days. According to a NPR report by Bobby Allyn, in these next 90 days, TikTok either has to sell the app or it will be banned. Right now, the best-case scenario is happening for users who still have the app downloaded. People can use it, but the app still isn’t on any app stores due to fear of legal consequences.
Going back to the perspective of TikTok being a national security concern, people in power fear that China is stealing American data and will use that to their advantage in the future.
Junior Brandon Flatt has an opinion that supports the theory that propaganda is spread on the app by people.
“TikTok is too censored,” Flatt said.
People have fears over a foreign country controlling the media people are seeing; however, no one is talking about whether or not an American country having control over the media is a good idea either. Countries that have full control of the media can easily spread propaganda to the same extent as a foreign country. A New York Times report in 2018 found that a group of local reporters all owned by the same company, reported the same lengthy speech discussing how all their news is truthful and correct. All of the new anchors reporting the same script makes for an uneasy effect on the viewer. This emphasizes how even in America, false narratives are still spread, meaning banning TikTok will not necessarily stop all fake news, misinformation, and propaganda.
There was a congressman who tried to pass an extension to the ban by 270 days prior to January 18th. His bill was proposed with the purpose of doing more research and discussing all the pros and cons of the ban. One of the main reasons to keep TikTok is the economic impact it has had in America.
TikTok Economic Impact states the small businesses have gained over 15 billion dollars in revenue because of TikTok. Social media has allotted small businesses with the ability to reach people for free which is something new in the marketing world. The TikTok Economic Impact also states that $24 billion have been added the overall U.S. economy because of small businesses on the app. This large economic impact is a good push to keep the app even though critics claim how businesses were still making money before social media became popular. However, with apps like TikTok and Instagram, people are able to find small businesses that never got any recognition and change people’s lives overnight.
The rise of influencers has dramatically changed small businesses too. Some small businesses will get endorsed by a very popular influencer and will sell out overnight. People are concerned about these small businesses if TikTok does get permanently banned.
A local Michigan business, Bakehouse 46, utilizes TikTok and Instagram to spread the word about their products.
“When we post funny but informative content, it brings people in and gets them talking about products we have that they might not have been interested in before. Along with promotions we have going on that they might not have been aware of,” Bakehouse 46 employee Elyssa Plevinski said.
The use of free advertising is a tool that companies have adapted to over the past couple of years. Technology is constantly evolving, and businesses have seen the possibilities that were unlocked with the boom of social media. One post could reach millions in the span of a couple minutes, spending little to no money to promote their product.
Companies will always have to follow the trends in order to keep their businesses afloat, but it will be interesting to see if a potential TikTok ban will have any major effects on any or all businesses.
From the economic impact to political conspiracy theories, people are upset about the TikTok ban. People have become accustomed to the app and do not want to see it leave everyone’s daily routines. When people wake up, they go on TikTok, during breaks from busy lives, people go on TikTok. All times of the day at all hours, people all over America are on TikTok. People are either happy to get the addictive app off their screens or sad to see it go.
Sources:
https://www.bbc.com/worklife/article/20240425-us-tik-tok-ban-small-business-creator-revenue
https://www.npr.org/2025/01/20/nx-s1-5268701/trump-executive-order-tiktok-ban
https://abcnews.go.com/Business/tiktok-restoring-service/story?id=117857636
https://tiktokeconomicimpact.com/?gad_source=1&gclid=CjwKCAiAneK8BhAVEiwAoy2HYURAr0ZieLFBVoINVA9N4uSLNJCQzktswZlAEpnO7I6TxCHqhQc3XxoCMEQQAvD_BwE
