On Sunday, January 19th, a federal ban on Tiktok took effect, blocking nearly 170 million Americans from accessing the app. This raised many questions about when it will be available in the app stores again, why it got banned, and more.
Rumors of a ban started years ago. This is because the American government believes that Tiktok poses a threat to the data of its American users. The government demanded that Tiktok be either sold to an American company, or banned. After years of trying, the ban was finally approved by the supreme court on Friday and it was finalized. On Saturday night and Sunday, many users reported
that the app was running slow or giving them a pop up that explains the temporary ban. This information from Tiktok did not provide a set returning date, but it did let users know that they are hopeful that President Trump will work with them to get the platform up and running again.
Users have many concerns regarding this ban. To many users, Tiktok was used as a marketing tool for their small businesses. Needless to say, this ban is hitting these citizens hard. Many people in need also use Tiktok to reach out and ask for the help they deserve. Since no official date of Tiktoks return has been released, it is uncertain how long these people will have to go without help.
Many users who kept Tiktok on their phones are able to continue using Tiktok normally, however, users who deleted the app cannot download it again because it is no longer available in the app store. Therefore, Tiktok is not officially unbanned yet and it is still unavailable to many people. Americans are anticipating that President Trump will work with the company to get it back as soon as possible. For now, users will just have to wait.
