TikTok’s fate in the U.S. remains uncertain after a recent executive order signed by President Trump extended the timeline for its potential ban by 75 days, allowing time for a 50 percent ownership deal with the U.S. This move follows the Supreme Court’s unanimous decision upholding the constitutionality of a congressional ban on the app, citing national security concerns with the app’s data practices and its parent company, ByteDance’s, ties to the Chinese government. While the app’s 170 million American users may breathe a temporary sigh of relief, the extension makes it clear that the fight over TikTok is far from over.
In November 2017, ByteDance acquired Musical.ly and merged it with TikTok, equipping the app with an algorithm that encourages binge-watching and maximal engagement. The algorithm, which personalizes content based on user behavior, has helped the app gain global traction and become a dominating force in pop culture, impacting everything from music charts to marketing strategies. Artists have used the app to release their songs and propel their popularity, encouraging record companies to tailor song releases to the app’s trends. Businesses, both big and small, leverage the app’s advertising algorithm to push their products to the public, finding partnerships with influencers and creating content of their own.
The app has had the most significant impact on digital content creation, giving careers to countless new content creators and introducing the public to new genres of entertainment. As the app has maintained its impact on pop culture for as long as it has, its influence has spread to politics, activism, and mainstream media. Acting as a news outlet, source of income, and entertainment, the app has become an important part of billions of people’s lives around the world. Many of the 170 million Americans who use the app are college students. Those who stand to be affected by the banning of the app worry about the “implications of free speech and the creator economy,” writes Thea Felicity of the University Herald.
Dartmouth University reported that its students and faculty are torn by the government’s decision to ban TikTok, with Government professor Sonu Bedi stating that if the app constitutes an outlet for free speech, then its ban could suppress people’s online expressions. Some students recognize the security threat of the app, stating that the app’s ban won’t impact free speech significantly since there are many more online platforms that can be used the same way.
The ban on the app could have a negative impact on the lives of college students nationwide. A large number of the content creators on TikTok are college students. Student creators at Duke University note that if they were to be forced to move their content to another social media platform for their content, it could be expensive and unsuccessful. Banning the app stands to impact student livelihoods, as many use the app as their sole source of income, with many using their wages to pay off their tuition and loans. TikTok also plays a role in campus engagement and activism, as school organizations use it to promote different innitiatives and embark on community outreach campaigns. In an interview with Inside Higher Ed, lawyer J. Israel Balderas acknowledged that the app allows students to “communicate and play a role in the marketplace of ideas.” He also noted that students fear that if the government can ban TikTok under the guise of protecting national security, then other social media platforms owned by foreign countries could face a similar fate.
Many business moguls and tech companies have placed bids to buy TikTok to save it from removal from the U.S. market. Billionaires like Elon Musk, Kevin O’Leary, and Larry Ellison—Chief Technology Officer of Oracle—have all shown interest in buying the app. Other competition includes YouTuber Mr. Beast and Steven Mnuchin, the former Secretary of the Treasury under Donald Trump. Perplexity AI, Microsoft, and Oracle have all shown interest in buying the app as well. It remains unclear at this point what the fate of TikTok will be. As the app remains unavailable on all app stores, many have expressed concern over its future. Many wonder what kind of precedent this act could set for other platforms and expressions of free speech. Whether TikTok ultimately disappears from American phones or finds a legal lifeline, its impact on digital culture and society will not be easily erased.
