170 Million US TikTok users are going through withdrawal today after the platform went dark in response to a law passed by Congress and signed by Joe Biden. The bill was argued as a necessary step to prevent China from collecting data from Americans. We assume this is data Joe Biden and Democrats have not already given them, not that it had anything to do with that.
TikTokers had been doing some actual journalism on the ground in places like Gaza and the Ukraine. There may have also been some real-world reports from the border, along with numerous other unflattering content that, in an election year, could (and did) sully the ruling party’s reputation.
Remember, this ban (Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act) was formulated and fought over in the spring of 2024. It had enough Republican support to march into the Democrat Senate, where it quickly found a way to Biden’s desk and into law.
The ban was a warning to social media companies. A wedge allowing the feds to institute and enforce a draconian censorship regime. However, when Democrats lost in November, whoever was running the Biden Administration decided they would not enforce the ban. TikTok could keep operating without fear, it was told. Members of Congress backed off, and Donald Trump, the president as of tomorrow, said he’d issue an EO that clearly stated no intent to enforce, as well. (Related: TikTok Ban Survives But No One Is Going to Enforce It)
After SCOTUS upheld the ban (more on that here), TikTok (presumably) decided not to take the chance someone might renege and they’d get a visit from the DOJ, and who can blame them. Merrick Garland may have left the building (to sickening applause), but the wheels of injustice turn regardless.
“Sorry, TikTok isn’t available right now,” the message that greeted users reads. “A law banning TikTok has been enacted in the U.S. Unfortunately, that means you can’t use TikTok for now.”
The app seems to have been removed from app stores run by Apple and Google. The app’s swift disappearance comes at the end of a wild week that saw the U.S. Supreme Court reject TikTok’s last-ditch effort to avoid the federal ban, even as some lawmakers who voted for the ban and the Biden administation seemed to back away from the idea of enforcing it.
If you look for the App online, you’ll get “downloads of this app are paused due to current US legal requirements.”
Instagram must be thrilled but leary. A government with this power can make up a reason to take you out, even if you aren’t allowing unpopular truths, including from war zones. And thinking you are one of them does not protect you. (Related: Sununu Bans TikTok)
My suspicion is that TikTok has decided to engage in some street-level politics. By denying its user base the thing it loves, the truly enthusiastic are getting a taste of what federal censorship looks and feels like. That by doing this, they energize a constituency that will encourage Congress to repeal the law altogether – which is what it should do.
Telling state or federal workers they can’t use an app on a taxpayer-funded device is well within its authority, and why are they using TikTok on our dime anyway? Expanding that to a general public who has the right to give their data to whomever you choose is – to borrow words from Democrats during the Kamala campaign – fascist.
