The popular social media platform TikTok was temporarily shut down on January 18, 2025, just hours before the Jan. 19th ban took effect. As viewers logged into the app, they were met with a message that read: “Sorry, TikTok isn’t available right now. A law banning TikTok has been enacted in the U.S. Unfortunately, that means you can’t use TikTok for now.”

TikTok, formally known as Musically, was created back in 2014 by Chinese entrepreneurs Alex Zhu and Luyu Yang. It gained popularity among teenagers following its creation of short lip-syncing and dance videos. Later, in 2018, the app was rebranded and launched worldwide as the version now known as TikTok. 

TikTok gained most of its popularity after COVID-19 caused a worldwide lockdown. The social media app, with over 800 million users, is a form of entertainment that features viral content such as dance challenges, trends, memes, and more. Many celebrities and singers, such as Taylor Swift, Selena Gomez, and Sabrina Carpenter, have used the app to promote their content/ brand and music.

Following its growth, the famous app also faced many controversies. From 2020 to 2024, three attempts were made to remove it due to national security concerns and concerns regarding its Chinese Ownership.

Bobby Allyn from NPR reported that in 2020, President Donald Trump ordered the “Chinese-owned app to sell its U.S. assets to an American company ” due to national security concerns about the app’s ownership. TikTok sued the Trump administration for violating citizens’ rights under the First Amendment. Ultimately, after the Biden administration took office, Biden revoked the bill after making arrangements with ByteDance, TikTok’s parent company.

Back in March of 2024, The U.S. The House of Representatives passed legislation requiring ByteDance to sell its TikTok asset within nine months. In addition, former President Biden also signed a bill emphasizing the ban due to security reasons regarding U.S. users’ data. With constant appeals being brought forward, the Supreme Court ultimately upheld the federal law to ban the social media app. On January 18, 2025, TikTok was shut down and removed from all app stores. Many users came forward against the ban, stating that the app was nothing more than a form of entertainment. 

Following President Trump’s inauguration,  a bill was presented enabling the use of TikTok in the United States for 75 days. On Jan. 19th, the app restored service; however, it did not return to the app stores until Feb. 13. The return of the app was established after the Justice Department stated that no fines would be upheld. 

As the countdown continues, potential sales of TikTok are still underway, as the app could vanish at any given moment. The platform, much like Instagram, is nothing more than an app that users find entertaining and enables those with similar interests to connect. 

“From MrBeast to Elon Musk, various high-profile names have been identified as potential buyers,” Time Magazine stated. The company, Microsoft, was also part of the idea of acquiring the app. TikTok continues to be a topic brought up in Congress, with its final decision still being further examined.