Headline Roundup • January 20th, 2025
TikTok Briefly Banned, Back Online After Trump Says He Wants to ‘Save It’
Summary from the AllSides News Team
TikTok went offline briefly on Sunday as its ban by the U.S. government took effect, though incoming President Donald Trump said he would revive the social media platform, prompting it to resume services.
The Details: Trump said on Saturday, January 18 that he would “most likely” give TikTok 90 days to work out a deal that would allow it to avoid a U.S. ban. On Sunday, TikTok restored services and said in a statement, “We thank President Trump for providing the necessary clarity and assurance to our service providers that they will face no penalties (for hosting) TikTok” and that it “will work with President Trump on a long-term solution.”
For Context: TikTok, which is owned by the Chinese company ByteDance, was ordered under Biden’s administration to find a new owner or be banned. Trump said on Sunday that he aims to find a situation where the U.S. would have 50% ownership of TikTok. TikTok had taken its case through the U.S. court system, but on Friday, January 17, the Supreme Court upheld the ban. There has been ample public and media discourse on whether the app should be banned or not.
How The Media Covered It: TikTok’s ban and Trump’s response has been one of the most covered stories in mainstream media in recent days, as the former president will be inaugurated for a second term on January 20. Reuters (Center bias) included ample context on recent developments and noted at the end of its coverage that ByteDance is 60% owned by global investment firms such as BlackRock.
Featured Coverage of this Story
Jaap Arriens/NurPhoto via Getty Images.
TikTok restored services in the US on Sunday, easing the concerns of content creators and entrepreneurs who make their living from the platform — at least for now.
The platform was down for 12 hours starting late Saturday night and was restored following a Truth Social post by President-Elect Donald Trump, who said he'd issue an executive order on Monday to delay the ban. TikTok's future remains unclear, as its China-based parent company, ByteDance, has so far refused to divest from the app as required by law, but for now, the economy driven...
TikTok began restoring its services on Sunday after President-elect Donald Trump said he would revive the app's access in the U.S. when he returns to power on Monday.
"Frankly, we have no choice. We have to save it," Trump said at a rally on Sunday ahead of his inauguration, adding that the U.S. will seek a joint venture to restore the short-video sharing app used by 170 million Americans.
In a message to users hours before the rally, TikTok said: "As a result of President Trump's efforts, TikTok is back in the U.S."
President-elect Trump declared that TikTok is returning to the U.S. market, after its brief ban, during a pre-inauguration rally on Sunday under a new arrangement.
This time, he told his supporters who gathered in Washington that he was aiming to create a deal in which the U.S. would have 50% ownership of the popular app’s operations.
On Friday, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the bipartisan law passed last year banning TikTok unless its Chinese-owned company ByteDance sells it by Sunday, citing national security risks because of its ties to China's communist government. The...
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