Were you extra productive for 15 hours on January 18th? Did you celebrate a little too loudly when TikTok magically reappeared on Sunday morning, January 19th.
The anxiety was real and the celebrations were wild as TikTok went down last weekend.
TikTok users were anxiously awaiting to see if the ban would really take place on the 19th. But it still caught followers by surprise when on the evening of the 18th, a notification popped up on TikTok users screens saying, “We regret that a U.S. law banning TikTok will take effect on January 19 and force us to make our services temporarily unavailable.”
What was even more of a shock, was when TikTok became unavailable only a few hours after the announcement on the 18th, users were surprised and in disbelief that it happened early and even that it happened at all. Most people noticed the ban took place between 8:30-10:00 pm on the 18th depending on time zones.
When you tried to open the app, it would open but you were greeted with a pop up that said “Sorry TikTok isn’t available right now”. A law banning TikTok had been enacted in the U.S.however newly inaugurated Donald Trump signed an executive order giving 75 more days for TikTok to comply with a law banning the app if it is not sold.
Though this sadness wouldn’t linger for long, on the morning of the 19th TikTok appeared to be slowly beginning to work again for some people across the country. A message popped up when you opened it saying, “Welcome back! Thanks for your patience and support. As a result of President Trump’s efforts, TikTok is back in the U.S! You can continue to create, share, and discover all the things you love on TikTok.”
The app was a bit glitchy for most at first, but then within an hour the app was working as it had before it went down. Though the ban only lasted approximately 15 hours, people in the U.S were bored and unsatisfied with the other social media platforms they turned to (Instagram reels, RedNote,Youtube) according to the responses of TikTok users. The app had been many people’s main long term entertainment and somewhat reliable source of media for the past 10 years, so having it be taken away affected people, even with a warning.
TikTok, is most notably, many people’s source of income. TikTok generated at least $16.1 billion in revenue in 2023. The amount of money made on TikTok varies depending on the creator’s following, size, and the type of content they create. This is according to Oxford Economics, a global Economic advisory firm.
People were pleased to see the sight of TikTok being back on their phones, but if you deleted TikTok during the 15 hours, or even got a new phone, you will find that you can’t access TikTok because it was taken out of the App Store. A quick review of Ebay found phones with TikTok still loaded, listed anywhere from $500.00 to $25,000 for the TikTok “desperate.”
President Trump delayed the ban for 75 days, and according to the White House, is actively looking for avenues to restore and keep the app in the United States. He wants a U.S investor to take a stake in Bytedance’s TikTok, though several parties are in contention even as possible buyers are facing legal barriers, according to CNBC news.
Could these next few months really be the end for TikTok?
