In case we all forgot, President Donald Trump was one of the first to express his concerns about TikTok during his first presidential term. Yet, ironically, Trump vowed to save the social media app by delaying the ban upon his return to the White House for his second term. The nationwide ban was first discussed amidst immense paranoia from United States officials that the Chinese-owned application would be weaponized through the creation of profiles on American TikTok consumers. Trump’s sudden change of heart has been raising alarm from bystanders regarding the true intentions of his proactivity to rescue TikTok. Is it a strategic play to win over the younger generation? Is he softening the blow before something bigger, or worse, is enacted?
The ban remained active for a short 12 hours, and even so, owner of TikTok and ByteDance Zhang Yiming shut down the app at 10:30 p.m. EST on Jan. 18, earlier than anticipated for the ban. The entire operation was meticulously worded in such a way that credited Trump for his actions to promptly restore the app, painting him as its savior: “we are fortunate that President Trump has indicated that he will work with us on a solution to reinstate TikTok once he takes office,” and once the app was back up, “as a result of Trump’s efforts, TikTok is back in the US!” were plastered on every American user’s screens.
Trump is motivated to gain 50% ownership of TikTok in a joint endeavor, entrusting TikTok in good, secure hands while simultaneously allowing for American users to enjoy it again. If this becomes the case, though, it begs the ultimate question of what the future holds for a social media outlet of this magnitude. Who then are the good hands that will be endowed with such a task? Is it wise to let someone who has been banned from X, YouTube, Instagram and Facebook decide the future for a social media app—someone who has abused its purposes to further his own agenda of violence? Could this make room for opportunities of propaganda work, like George Orwell’s Big Brother? What if U.S. government officials’ fear of the security risks imposed by TikTok are actually a form of projection based on our own government?
TikTok is the epitome of power in numbers. One hundred seventy million Americans are active users of the app, and roughly 7 million businesses thrive on the publicity TikTok is able to provide. In the government’s hands, TikTok could be disastrous to our democracy.
The future holds much uncertainty indeed, and we shouldn’t be too hasty to thank Trump for his potentially deceitful efforts to salvage TikTok. Allowing the government to own a large portion of the app is overall a threat to our freedom of speech.