
On January 18, 2025, TikTok was temporarily banned for 12 hours.
Was this the worst social media ban that the U.S. had to go through?
Original TikTok creators had to move to an app called “Rednote” which is slightly like TikTok but words on the app are all in Mandarin, so users weren’t really enjoying the app.
During the suspension, TikTok users were unable to access the app, receiving a message every time it was opened that TikTok was unavailable at the moment. Users didn’t think the TikTok ban was going to be serious because TikTok has been said to be banned for years now and it never happened.
Once it actually got banned, some U.S. users uninstalled the app during those 12 hours because they thought that TikTok wasn’t ever coming back. TikTok was removed from the App Store so those who deleted the app, cannot download it back.
In response to that, some individuals were listing iPhones with TikTok pre-installed on eBay, with prices reaching up to 5 million dollars. The sudden ban shocked the whole U.S. Other social media platforms flooded with everyone’s reactions to the ban.
The temporary suspension of TikTok in the U.S. emphasized the platform’s significant role in users’ lives because TikTok were some of the creators’ lifetime job, all over the U.S.
TikTok started working again on January 19, 2025 after President Donald Trump got into office. That gave a big relief to the U.S. users but those who uninstalled the app are now out of luck.
Now creators’ are back to creating content that we love and are back to making their money. We really hope this never happens again.