TikTok returns to app stores
TikTok has returned to its users in the USA after weeks of being removed. President Donald Trump issued a reprieve that delayed a ban on the video platform on his first day of office.
On Thursday, 13 February 2025, more than 170 million users in the USA, the largest economy in the world, gained access to the social media app, now available for download on both Google and Apple stores. TikTok briefly went offline in America on January 18, 2025, due to a law responding to national security concerns.
The USA primarily centred the issue of banning TikTok around national security concerns. The Biden administration worried that the Chinese government might access user data through TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, based in China. Despite the lawsuit filed by TikTok and ByteDance, the ban took effect on 19 January 2025.
However, on Donald Trump first day in office, He signed an executive order halting the enforcement of the ban for 75 days, paving the way for negotiations on a potential joint venture between the Chines App and US companies. Although Apple and Google removed the app from their stores on January 18, people who had already downloaded it were able to use it.
Although the app is back, there is still uncertainty about the future of TikTok in the US and it is not clear what will happen after the grace period provided by the Trump administration ends.
The Biden administration introduced a law to ban TikTok, gaining broad congressional support from politicians who argued that the app threatens US national security.
TikTok and its supporters have argued the law breaches the First Amendment of the US Constitution, which guarantees the right to free speech.
TikTok launched several legal challenges to stop US from imposing the ban, however, the Supreme Court upheld the law.
Last month, President Trump stated that the US aims for a 50 percent ownership of TikTok in a “joint venture.” He claimed it would be “good for China” if approved and warned that not approving it would be considered “somewhat of a hostile act.”
“The US should get half of TikTok, and congratulations, TikTok has a good partner,” he told reporters at the time.“If the President doesn’t sign, it’s worthless. If the President does sign, it’s worth a trillion dollars.”
Earlier this month, Mr Trump signed an executive order to create a sovereign wealth fund and said it could buy TikTok.
ByteDance, however, has maintained that TikTok will remain in its ownership and it is not for sale.
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