Tik Tok Has Officially Gone Offline
By: Desmond Price
Moments ago, millions of Americans logged onto Tik Tok to see this message layered across their screens
Many have been dreading this day for months, but now it has finally arrived. Whether you use Tik Tok on a consistent basis or not, this development should be troubling.
Under the guise of “protecting the public”, Tik Tok was banned in America last year. A law that received bipartisan support in both chambers of Congress, and ultimately signed into law by our Democratic President Joe Biden.
The bill was signed into law on April 24, last year. Tik Tok was informed that if they did not sell their company from their Chinese-owned parent company ByteDance, they would face a ban in the United States.
Tik Tok is used by over 170 million people in America. There are 7 million small businesses that run directly through the platform & 234,000 employees of the social media juggernaut.
It’s unclear how widespread of an effect this will have on our culture and economy, but it’s certain that it’s absolutely going to cause an uproar amongst the public.
Earlier today, Donald Trump spoke with NBC’s Kristen Welker and said he would sign an executive or on Monday, giving Tik Tok a 90 day extension to sell their company.
But should they have to?
We’ve all had these conversations over the last several months, but for those of you who are newer to my platform, I just want to take another moment to make clear my position on Tik Tok.
I think it’s absolute hypocrisy, to the highest order, to ban Tik Tok in America.
I cannot fathom how this could every be about “protecting” Americans, while we continue to see:
No assault weapons ban
No universal healthcare
A criminalization of homelessness
Corporate price gouging of everyday essentials
Continued investment into fossil fuels
Erosion of public schools
Cuts to social safety net programs
Oh and let’s not forget that they haven’t even given us protection from American social media companies that are harvesting our data (hypocrisy at its finest)
The notion that the Tik Tok ban is about “safety” or “protection” is laughable…
Unless we’re talking about the “safety” of the elites from our collective organizing. Possibly the “protection” of companies like X, Meta & Google who no longer have to compete with Tik Tok in America.
Maybe that’s the “protection” the U.S. government was referring to…
Where do we go from here?
In my heart of hearts, I do not believe that Tik Tok is permanently lost to America, but I do fear for what it may look like upon its return.
Will it be bought by an American company, who is hellbent on changing the very dynamic that so many people loved about the app?
Only time will tell, but until then, I think it’s imperative that we all strive to stay together and form community in the best ways we know how.
On Substack, I just opened a chat channel for all members of my newsletter. So please take advantage of that!
Additionally, if you’re not already, please come join us over on Instagram.
Lastly, please support content creators if you have the ability to. A lot of people who were living paycheck to paycheck, are now missing huge amounts of their incomes due to the loss of Tik Tok.
Please support them on other platforms if you can. Sign up for their Patreon, paid Substack subscription, or find another way to help them out.
If you would like to support our work, please consider signing up for the paid version of Substack & help us on this journey, while we continue to bring you the news amongst this new Trump administration.
We’re going to keep this one short for today, but I plan to be back later in the week with an update on what’s next for Tik Tok
Until then,
Desmond
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When an app is more important than children don't talk to me about safety anymore. Say what it is - control.
What century are we in? They ban an app but not protect our kids.