TikTok briefly shut down on January 18th for its 170 million American users in preparation for a ban issued by Congress last April. The ban signifies an emerging pattern of social media companies pandering to the new administration, raising discussions about censorship, internet safety, and the relationship between Trump and America’s wealthiest.
The act initiating the ban, titled PAFACA, allows the government to ban foreign apps if they threaten national security. The law specifically targets TikTok, stating the app would be banned in the US if its Chinese owner, ByteDance, didn’t sell it to an American company by January 19th. US government officials are allegedly concerned ByteDance is harvesting user data to share with the Chinese government and influencing Americans with misinformation and propaganda.
On the evening of the 18th, a message appeared on TikTok stating that the app was currently unavailable and Trump was working to reinstate it. The next day, a new message exclaimed that TikTok was back “as a result of President Trump’s efforts.” TikTok is currently still missing from the Apple and Google app stores and cannot be downloaded or updated. As long as TikTok doesn’t shut down its services again, it should continue to function, but eventually without updates it will become increasingly difficult to use.
Following his inauguration, Trump signed an executive order claiming to delay enforcement of the ban for 75 days, but whether he has the authority to actually do this is unclear. He previously tried to ban the app during his first term, but seems to now have changed his stance, crediting TikTok for gaining him support from young voters.
TikTok’s lawyers, as well as many of its users, claim the ban is unconstitutional and restricts freedom of speech. Many argue that the ban was attempting to silence political content on issues like the presidential election and the war in Palestine. Some users are skeptical about Trump’s role in TikTok’s return, accusing him of manipulating users to garner support, as the announcement allows him to take credit and be seen as a savior.
TikTok is not the only tech company trying to improve their standings by appealing to Trump and his campaign. Meta, the company owning Instagram and Facebook, has made many significant changes following Trump’s election. Despite previously being criticized for allegedly censoring right-wing voices, CEO Mark Zuckerberg has recently hired multiple Trump supporters to prominent positions. He also donated $1 million to Trump’s inaugural fund, stating that he wants to take an “active role” in tech policy discussions.
Trump’s newfound partnership with Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg, the biggest tech moguls in the US right now, has led people to question whether or not America is leaning towards oligarchical rule.
On January 7th, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced that fact checkers on Instagram and Facebook would be getting replaced with user-generated “community notes,” similar to Elon Musk’s X. Trump and other conservatives have often criticized fact checking on Meta and Twitter, calling it “censorship” when posts would get taken down due to inaccurate content.
The Real Facebook Oversight Board, an outside content moderation organization for Facebook and Instagram, are particularly upset about this change.
“Meta’s announcement today is a retreat from any sane and safe approach to content moderation,” said the Board in a statement, calling the changes “political pandering.”
The recent developments in X and Meta, as well as the US government’s eagerness in acquiring TikTok, has brought up the question of censorship and internet safety. As we’ve seen in the latest election, social media is now a large part of where people get their news from. Citizens fear that with the grave lack of fact checking beginning to emerge in American-owned social media corporations, the amount of fake news being published will increase.
This ongoing pattern of alliances between billionaire tech CEOs and the president raises critical questions about censorship and the role of corporations in American democracy, suggesting that the American government may be leaning towards becoming an oligarchy.