TikTok Back Online After Brief Shutdown
The future of the app is still unclear, but reports indicate that President-Elect Trump plans to sign an executive order delaying the ban for 90 days.
WASHINGTON, D.C. (KVRR) – Nobody knew for certain what TikTok would look like come January 19th – the day its supposed ban went into effect.
But it ended up being the 18th that saw all the drama.
First, a warning. Then, a full shutdown. Followed by a quick restoration that gave credit to President Trump – the day before his inauguration.
North Dakota Senator Kevin Cramer has remained steadfast in his support of the ban from the beginning, citing both privacy and international optics concerns.
“We do have to send a message to the Chinese Communist Party that this is the United States of America, we will contend for her, and we will stand up to you,” he said, adding, “We really do have to shut down their access to this data.”
CNET tech reporter Abrar Al-Heeti says she’s not shocked to have seen competing apps, like the Chinese-based RedNote, shoot up the popularity charts in response to the impending ban.
“They’re doing this not only to look for a TikTok alternative,” she said, “but also as an act of resistance, of saying, ‘Hey, we don’t actually care if China gets all of our data. We just want a platform that we actually enjoy using.'”
Al-Heeti added that what people would have missed most about TikTok was the sense of community it fostered – a community, which, for now, appears to still be intact.
