Around 10 p.m. on January 18, TikTok automatically closed on many phones. A message reading, “A law banning TikTok has been enacted in the U.S. Unfortunately, that means you can’t use TikTok for now,” popped up instead. The reason for the ban is not specific to TikTok, but a bill passed by Congress that affects several non-U.S.-based apps.
President Donald Trump, in his previous term, discussed banning TikTok for concerns of data privacy and American citizen safety; however, in recent months, his opinion of the app changed.
“TikTok is less of a danger to the USA than [Facebook],” Trump said in a social media post.
Trump claims to be working on pausing the ban to focus on a long-term solution with ByteDance, but many in the House and Senate remain strongly supportive to the ban, some even referring to TikTok as a “communist spy app.”
Not even 24 hours after the ban, TikTok came back with a message reading , “Thanks for your patience and support. As a result of President Trump’s efforts, TikTok is back in the U.S.!” The app is still unable to be downloaded from appstores, but users who kept the app can now use it with seemingly no issues.
Many found this to be suspicious due to Trump still being the president-elect at the time. Some have also claimed they believe the app has returned, but is now censored for American viewers. Several TikTokers have mentioned no longer having their same algorithm and certain search terms being inaccessible. The bill that allowed the banning of TikTok may have played a part in the supposed censorship of the app.
Bipartisan bill H.R.7521, “Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act,” works to bar international applications from app stores if it has been determined by the President to “present a significant threat to national security.” This includes media run by ByteDance or other social media platforms controlled by foreign adversaries. H.R.7521 allows for foreign businesses to remain accessible to Americans if they agree to divestiture, or sell, their assets to allow for U.S. purchase.
This bill affects all forms of social media, including video games. Widely recognized Chinese mega corporation Tencent holds significant stakes in most gaming companies around the world—these include Riot, Supercell, Epic, Ubisoft and many more.
The U.S. Department of Defense recently displayed concern with Tencent potentially being involved with the Chinese military, but that quickly shut down. However, tensions are rising with H.R.7521 now active, and many of these companies may lose their American player base.
American consumers are concerned with this potential ban, not for losing the game, but for losing investments within the game. According to ncesc.com, 80% of ‘gamer’ Americans spend around $76 on video games a year, typically on game-enhancing skins or characters. This amounts to $912 a year—which could all be lost if the game is banned.
Books are also included in this ban. Ironically, ‘banned books’ sections in stores are being pulled due to Congressional concern with certain subject matter. Fahrenheit 451, The Giver, This Book is Gay, Operation Dark Heart and thousands more. Book bans vary, however. Some are not accessible in schools, some are difficult to find due to limited access, and some are illegal to own a copy of. All of these are ‘banned,’ in a sense, but H.R.7521 immediately increases the likelihood of these books moving to the next tier.
Every form of media is affected by H.R.7521, but TikTok is the only major victim at the moment. Congress has currently paused its social media concerns to deal with more pressing matters.
