On the night of January 18, TikTok customers within the U.S. discovered themselves in social media limbo as they acquired their final scrolls in earlier than the ban set in. Opening the app, they have been greeted with two cryptic messages. The primary promised that TikTok was engaged on restoring service rapidly, whereas the second had an eerie addendum: “We’re lucky that President Trump has indicated that he’ll work with us on an answer to reinstate TikTok as soon as he takes workplace.”
Just a bit over 12 hours later, TikTok was again. A brand new message congratulated customers for his or her persistence, saying, “On account of President Trump’s efforts, TikTok is again within the U.S.”
Associated story
As Donald Trump Takes Workplace, the Younger Girls of Gen Z Are Prepared to Struggle for Their Rights
A feel-good second orchestrated by a returning savior chief? Not fairly. Whereas some customers comfortable to see the return of the app and a few of its current favorites like Spencer Pratt posting as quickly because it was again up, many TikTok customers have been fast to take to Reddit with their receipts, blasting via any try at rewriting historical past.
“Keep in mind,” one consumer started. “Trump began this in 2020 with an Government Order… He created this drawback.” They weren’t exaggerating. Again in August 2020, an in-office President Trump threatened to ban TikTok outright, citing obscure nationwide safety considerations. Customers shared screenshots ofheadlines from that summer season, with dominating declarations like, “Trump says he’s banning TikTok within the U.S.” What started as a legally questionable government order to ban the app ended up being dismissed by the courts.
Now, with political theater in full swing, many customers see these recent TikTok developments as little greater than a self-serving act.
“The message is so dystopian,” one other annoyed commenter weighed in. “He’s not even president but, however now he’s swooping in like some savior? This feels so suspicious and makes me not even wish to be on the app.” Echoes of mistrust reverberated via the threads, with some drawing consideration to Meta’s current determination to get rid of fact-checking on its platforms, together with Fb and Instagram. “I don’t belief any of it,” one other consumer concluded. “State-run media looks like the following step.”
Elon Musk isn’t off the hook both, with X (previously Twitter) including to the digital chaos. Musk’s erratic management at X, together with Zuckerberg’s historical past of fostering misinformation and propaganda — just like the Fb-Cambridge Analytica scandal that closely influenced the 2016 presidential election — is sparking severe concern. Many are questioning whether or not TikTok would possibly shift from a platform for creativity, small companies, and activists to prepare to a device for blatant propaganda.
Whereas Trump may be wanting to recast himself because the steward of free speech, many aren’t shopping for it — or all that trusting of the post-ban type of TikTok.
