TikTok appears to have an unlikely savior in its midst – former president, Donald Trump.
With the US ban looming, and scheduled to be finalized in 2025, Trump has taken to Truth Social to tell followers that he will stop the US ban, should he be elected president in November’s election.
It’s a far cry from four years ago, when Trump himself was behind the drive to ban the app.
Donald Trump Pledges to Stop TikTok Ban
Donald Trump appealed to followers on his own social media platform, Truth Media, to vote for him in order to stop TikTok from being banned in the US, come January.
In a video posted to his channel, the former president told followers “For all of those who want to save TikTok in America, vote Trump”, before casting blame at Joe Biden and the Democrats for wanting to “close it up.”
This just in! View
the top business tech deals for 2024 👨💻
Trump sought to legitimatize his position by saying “I’m now a big star on TikTok. We’re not doing anything with TikTok.”
It’s true that Trump has a following on TikTok, despite being late to join the platform. Since signing up in June of this year, Trump has reached almost 11 million followers, although his following is a drop in the ocean compared to the likes of TikTok heavyweights such as Mr Beast and Khaby Lame.
Trump’s Original TikTok Ban
Cynics might see Trump’s turnaround as a way to appeal to TikTok’s core demographic, opposing the ban as a way to gain sympathy from younger voters. It’s certainly a stark contrast to his position in 2020, which saw his own government seek to ban the app, spearheaded by Trump himself.
While there had been concerns about the security of the Chinese-owned social media app, it wasn’t until a sparsely attended Trump rally in June of that year, purportedly caused by a grassroots TikTok campaign to sabotage the ticket application process, that Trump sat up and took notice.
When the Biden administration came into power, it actually reversed Trump’s plans to ban TikTok.
When Will TikTok be Banned?
TikTok is due to be banned on January 19th, 2025. That’s the dates that the current administration is working towards, although it’s unlikely that the app will simply stop working that day.
ByteDance, TikTok’s owner, may comply with the order by Biden’s government to sell TikTok’s US arm to a US company, in order to ensure that the app no longer has a relationship with the Chinese government. This would mean that the app would not be banned.
What seems more likely is that ByteDance will put in a legal bid to stop the ban, which could results in months, if not years, of legal wrangling, buying the app some more breathing space in the meantime.
Or, if Trump wins the election in November, he may stay true to his word and cancel the ban, just as Biden did when he came into power. However, should this pan out, it doesn’t address any of the concerns about the threat that TikTok may pose to national security – the original reason for the impending ban.
