The United States government passed a law on January 18, 2025 that had TikTok shut down for twelve hours. Fortunately for the United States, the app was restored on January 18, 2025 by President Trump’s executive order, who has decided to hold the ban for 75 days. Currently there are a couple of potential buyers for the app including Elon Musk, Microsoft, and Oracle.
During the ban many teenagers and young people were frustrated that they would have to see the app go. A lot of young people including myself thought that the app would stay and that the news of the ban was false.
When the app finally got banned many young people in their teens were in despair and could not believe that they would have to see their favorite app go.
“When the app went black, I went delusional, and I kept telling myself that Tiktok would come back as long as I continued to tap the app.” said an EHS student, class of 2028.
The truth is no one actually thought that this day would come. People felt like this was a topic that was often brought up and never took action, so it wasn’t until the temporary shut down of the app that had many young people going crazy.
On the other side of the ban, young people have come to the reality that without the app they can finally get so much more important things in life done.
“I love Tiktok so much that I cannot imagine a life without it. And yet I desperately need a life without it.”- said a student in a New York Times article. This shows how much of a controlling factor that this app is in our new generation today. Was the Tiktok ban beneficial to our youth?
It is said that the sale of the app will likely go through because of the high value that it holds and the great business opportunities that can be gained from TikTok.
“A sale would offer benefits for both countries, Rammaurti says.” on an article on Northeastern Global News. If the app is not saved it is possible for the company ByteDance to lose out on money that it receives from TikTok, and face angry users who rely on TikTok to make income.
If a potential purchase is made on TikTok will most likely not be the same and be changed in various ways by the new owner. The “secret sauce” of TikTok is the algorithm, Ramamurti says, which would not be included in the transaction, according to Northeastern Global News
After the temporary ban, TikTok was taken off Google Play and app stores for the time period of about a month. Until the date of February 13, 2025 where the app was officially brought back to google play and app stores.
It is unknown what the future of TikTok holds, it is only up to the patience of the United States to see whether or not the app will be removed or bought by a potential owner.
