How TikTok became a religious pulpit

THEY SAID it was divine intervention. TikTok was resurrected on January 19th, just hours after the short-video app shut down in America. Users gushed that their prayers had been answered. “God said let TikTok rise up!” one exclaimed. In fact, Donald Trump issued an executive order on his first day back in office, granting an extension before the Chinese-owned app would be divested or shut down due to American concerns over national security.

Sacred sentiments are not out of place on TikTok, where religious content is booming among the app’s 1.9bn global users (none of whom are in China, where it is not available). Videos with the top five holy hashtags, including #Jesus and #Islam, have been viewed more than 1.2trn times.