TikTok is the magical place where you can watch someone air out their cheating partner and get a seafood pasta recipe by swiping up. With over 170 million users in the U.S., there’s no shortage of drama, questionable comments, and influencers giving you brain rot. But now, users have bigger problems than being hit with the “take a break” ad. The U.S. is ready to pull the plug on TikTok because of its ties to China. But don’t panic just yet—there’s a tiny sliver of hope (emphasis on tiny).
How did this start in the first place?
While most of us were perfecting the “Renegade Challenge” in our bedrooms, politicians were growing suspicious of TikTok. In October 2019, they called for an investigation into TikTok’s Musical.ly buyout and flagged potential national security risks. By January 2020, the Pentagon had banned it from military phones.
Fast forward two years and the focus shifted to the app’s content, especially the stuff pushing unhealthy behavior and hateful ideologies. TikTok responded with new policies in 2022, like removing content promoting eating disorders and conversion therapy—but it still wasn’t enough to quiet the government.
FBI Director Chris Wray raised alarms the same year, claiming China could control TikTok’s algorithm, “which allows them to manipulate content, and if they want to, use it for influence operations.” So, in April 2024, President Biden signed a law requiring TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, to sell TikTok or face a nationwide ban. TikTok isn’t going down without a fight—they filed a lawsuit the next month, saying the law violates free speech.
“For the first time in history, Congress has enacted a law that subjects a single, named speech platform to a permanent, nationwide ban,” the companies said in the lawsuit.
Now, the fate of TikTok rests in the hands of the Supreme Court, who don’t exactly seem like #TeamTikTok.
Where does TikTok’s fate currently stand?
TikTok officially announced that it would shut down on January 19 unless there is a Supreme Court miracle. Understandably, people began to crash out online, including the influencers whose livelihood depended on the app.
Nevertheless, the justices are hearing everyone out before finally making a decision that could abolish all the exercise routines you bookmarked and never used.
While TikTok and ByteDance argue that the ban violates the First Amendment, the government firmly believes that the app opens the door for China to hopscotch over our national security like K. Dot in the “Not Like Us” music video.
Noel Francisco, the attorney representing TikTok and ByteDance, denied China’s influence over the app’s source code as it operates in the United States. In the oral arguments, he stated that he is “not aware of any time in American history where the Congress has tried to shut down a major speech platform.” He then suggested a preliminary injunction (which prevents a party from making significant moves while the lawsuit is being heard) to “buy everyone a little breathing space.”
However, it doesn’t seem like the Court wants to press “pause.”
“Congress doesn’t care about what’s on TikTok … They don’t care about the expression, that’s shown by the remedy. They’re not saying TikTok has to stop. They’re saying China has to stop controlling TikTok,” Chief Justice John Roberts said.
Meanwhile, President-elect Donald Trump has been flip-flopping regarding TikTok from the jump. He once threatened to ban TikTok — but now wants to block the law until he’s back in office so he can figure out a solution. A clause in the law “includes a provision that allows the president to grant a one-time extension of 90 days if he determines that there’s a path to divestiture and ‘significant progress’” in securing a sale.
As it turns out, there are a number of interested parties looking to purchase the app.
Billionaires to the rescue?
Who would have thought that billionaires would save the day? A growing list of companies is rumored to be interested in purchasing the app. One potential suitor is billionaire Frank McCourt, whose resume includes making the biggest sports sale at the time with the Los Angeles Dodgers (a staggering $2.1 billion in 2012).
Since then, he has donated 500 million dollars to Project Liberty, which promises to save the app while prioritizing American privacy and ditching TikTok’s mysterious algorithm. McCourt’s crew plans to fund this through private equity and loans from big banks.
Kevin O’Leary (you’ve probably seen him on Shark Tank) is part of “The People’s Bid” team, along with a major TikTok investor (a $33 billion stake, to be exact) and GOP megadonor Jeff Yass. He is allegedly the person who got Trump to say “Yass” to keeping TikTok around and is also allegedly holding back donations to Congress members who want the app gone for good.
Despite these recent moves, will these billionaires pull it off, or will the government forever swipe TikTok away? We’re holding our breath—and savoring every TikTok we can.