TikTok: Arizonans react as social media app restores its service
PHOENIX - TikTok is back online in the U.S., after the social media platform shut down for several hours overnight.
The app, which raised worries in recent years among lawmakers and administration officials, shut down in the U.S. as a result of a law that required its parent company to sell by Sunday, or face a nationwide ban.
App had concerns related to national security, mental health
At the center of concerns over the app was what some consider to be a threat to national security.
The backstory:
TikTok is owned by ByteDance, a technology company based in Beijing that operates the well-known video editing app CapCut and Lemon8.
While defending a law that targets ByteDance in court, the Biden administration argued it was concerned about TikTok collecting vast swaths of U.S. user data that could fall into the hands of the Chinese government through coercion.
Officials have also warned the algorithm that fuels what users see on the app is vulnerable to manipulation by Chinese authorities, who can use it to shape content on the platform in a way that’s difficult to detect. But to date, the U.S. has not publicly provided evidence of TikTok handing user data to Chinese authorities or tinkering with its algorithm to benefit Chinese interests.
In addiiton, a recent filing by the White Mountain Apache Tribe, which is suing TikTok and Meta, claims that the companies are preying on the developing brains of children, placing profit above welfare, and ultimately leading to a mental health crisis.
Timeline:
The statute that required a sale of TikTok was passed by Congress in April 2024, after it was included as part of a high-priority $95 billion package that provided foreign aid to Ukraine and Israel. President Joe Biden quickly signed it, and then TikTok and ByteDance quickly sued on First Amendment grounds.
On Jan. 17, the Supreme Court unanimously decided that the risk to national security posed by TikTok's ties to China overcomes concerns about limiting speech by the app or its 170 million users in the United States.
Company officials thank Trump
The app's future presence in the U.S. is safe, at least for now, as a result of incoming president Donald Trump, who said he was tinkling about giving the app a 90-day extension.
The app's CEO, Shou Chew, thanked Trump for his commitment to work with the company in a video.
What they're saying:
"We are grateful and pleased to have the support of a president who truly understands our platform. One who has used talk to express his own thoughts and perspectives, connecting with the world and generating more than 60 billion views of his content in the process," Chew said.
Dig deeper:
It should be noted that according to the Associated Press, Trump had called for the app's banning during his first term in office.
Though Trump sought to ban TikTok during his first term, he reversed that stance during his 2024 campaign, when he came to believe a ban would help the app’s rival, Facebook, which he held responsible, in part, to his 2020 election loss to Biden.
Trump ended up joining the app last year and has grown his following to nearly 15 million users. He has since credited the app for helping him win over young voters.
"I have a warm spot in my heart for TikTok," he said during a December news conference. "TikTok had an impact."
West Valley pizzeria owner reacts to app's return
On TikTok's For You page, there were many videos of users in tears, due to fears the app could be taken away forever.
In the Phoenix area, app users and small business owners we spoke with said the uncertainty surrounding TikTok resulted in them feeling they are in limbo.
One of those small business owners is Vinny Pante with Amici Pizza. The pizza business was forever changed because of TikTok, as people discover the place on the app.
What they're saying:
"It’s been night and day," said Pante. "It was steady before, but now it’s just through the roof."
"People coming from Washington from New York, Wisconsin, Florida, all over the country because they’ve seen us on TikTok," said Xander Begay, who is a host at Amici Pizza.
App's future remains unclear, for now
What we don't know:
As mentioned above, the app was given a 90-day reprieve by Trump. What happens after the 90 days remains unclear.
On Saturday, artificial intelligence startup Perplexity AI submitted a proposal to ByteDance to create a new entity that merges Perplexity with TikTok U.S. business, according to a person familiar with the matter.
Perplexity is not asking to purchase the ByteDance algorithm that feeds TikTok user’s videos based on their interests..
Other investors have also been eyeing TikTok. ‘Shark Tank’ star Kevin O’Leary recently said a consortium of investors that he and billionaire Frank McCourt put together offered ByteDance $20 billion in cash. Trump’s former Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin also said last year that he was putting together an investor group to buy TikTok.