TikTok on the brink in the US: Final veto or a comeback?

On Saturday, some 170 million Americans were forced to say goodbye (at least temporarily) to their favourite app: TikTok. The video social network, owned by Chinese giant ByteDance, shut down with a bang, hours before the controversial Protecting Americans from Applications Controlled by Foreign Adversaries Act, which seeks to force TikTok out of the US if it does not completely disassociate itself from its Chinese owner, was set to go into effect. In a matter of hours, TikTok went from being the most used app in the country to a digital nightmare, with a desperate message on the screen and a promise that Donald Trump could save it. Sure enough, the former president intervened: 13 hours later, the app was back up and running.

Saturday began like any other day for TikTok users. Viral dances, memes of all kinds and, of course, the uncontrolled misinformation that the app has become almost a hallmark. However, everything changed around 9pm. Users began to see the dreaded warning message: ‘We regret to inform you that a US law will block TikTok as of 19 January,’ the notification stated, explaining that the app would be forced to suspend its services ‘temporarily’. As if that wasn’t enough, a couple of hours later, the app went into full ‘off’ mode, leaving users with the message: ‘Sorry, TikTok is temporarily unavailable’.

And the surprise? A small silver lining: ‘It’s fortunate that President Trump has indicated that he will work with us to reinstate TikTok once he takes office. The Apple and Google app shops pulled TikTok, and with them, Lemon8, the other platform owned by ByteDance, was also shut down. US content creators saw their videos become inaccessible, even to users outside the country. But the shutdown was not total: some international users were still able to watch videos on US soil if they used numbers registered in other countries. Meanwhile, TikTok kept a website open to download users’ personal data, which generated more doubts than certainties.

But this is where Donald Trump comes in, who, as if it were an action movie, appeared on his social network, Truth Social, to make a difference. ‘I call on companies not to let TikTok go dark! I will issue an executive order on Monday to extend the period of time before the law’s bans go into effect,’ he wrote, defying the law and assuring that companies that helped keep the app alive would not be penalised. Not only that: Trump proposed a more than eye-catching solution, suggesting a joint venture in which the US would take at least a 50% stake. ‘Without our approval, there is no TikTok. With it, it can be worth billions,’ he said.

TikTok, of course, was quick to react, announcing the gradual reactivation of the service. ‘We are working to restore our service in the US thanks to President Trump’s assurances,’ the company said, highlighting its pro-First Amendment and anti-censorship stance, while underlining its willingness to reach a long-term solution with the president-elect.

The law that threatens to remove TikTok from the US is designed to stop US companies from distributing, updating and maintaining the app unless ByteDance divests itself of control. But Trump’s move could complicate matters further: while the Biden administration has shrugged off enforcement, Trump is promising to extend the deadline for companies to continue operating without fear of fines, something that could even play in his favour to ensure a US partner is in the game. There has even been talk of Elon Musk as a candidate.

Congress, for its part, had already passed the law amid fears that TikTok was an espionage tool for China, collecting sensitive data from millions of users and serving as a propaganda channel. The US Department of Justice, defending the constitutionality of the law before the Supreme Court, claimed that TikTok was a potential disinformation ‘weapon’ and that its control by Beijing posed a ‘grave threat’ to national security.

What appeared to be the end of TikTok in the US may be no more than a dramatic pause. And in this film of unexpected twists and turns, the only thing we know for sure is that TikTok is still fighting for its survival, while politics and geopolitics play the real protagonists. Is this the last act in a saga full of intrigue, or will we see a triumphant return of the most influential app on the planet? Only time will tell.

The deadline marks a critical point for the platform in one of its most important markets.