TikTok’s Short-Lived Shutdown
After much widespread skepticism, on January 17th, 2025, the Supreme Court of the United States upheld the decision that the popular social media app, TikTok, would be officially banned in the U.S. on account of national security concerns. The official ban took place on January 18th, where users in America received an error notice, claiming that a nationwide ban had been legally enacted. There was also a clear indication that the president-elect, Donald Trump, extended strenuous efforts to reinstate access in the country. Less than twenty-fours later, the app was restored, which was evidently credited to Trump just one day before his inauguration. During the short-lived shutdown, many American TikTok users flooded to use Xiaohongshu, which can be translated to RedNote. This TikTok alternative became the most downloaded app when the shutdown “rumors” became a reality. RedNote is nearly identical to TikTok, but it is generally promoted for Mandarin speakers, which consequently lead to an extreme spike of Duolingo consumers studying basic Mandarin. The RedNote user base invited Americans to the community and deemed them “TikTok refugees,” with some even trying to coach the new users in basic Mandarin lessons themselves. American TikTok users hinted at using Virtual Private Networks (VPNs), as a way to still access the app despite the ban; however, this was proven ineffective as TikTok implemented technical restrictions to ensure there were no loopholes. Although TikTok is interpreted to have made a full comeback in America due to President Trump’s actions, the executive order he issued only certified a seventy-five day extension, allowing for a proper course of action to be determined. As of now, the app can not be downloaded through the app store, nor can it be transferred to other devices. The legislation declaring the outlaw prevented the distribution of the application as well as user ability to update the app, which is seemingly still in place. It is now just a matter of time to see whether the national security concerns can be appealed, or if one of America’s favorite apps will go dark again.
