John Washington is a journalism senior and opinion columnist for Mustang News. The opinions expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of Mustang Media Group.
TikTok went dark Jan. 19, one day before President Donald Trump’s inauguration. He put his opposition to the ban in action, temporarily restoring it after it shut down for just 14 hours. The error message found upon opening the app during those 14 hours, to the Democratic Party’s dismay, read, “We are fortunate that President Trump has indicated that he will work with us on a solution to reinstate TikTok once he takes office.”
In a rare instance of widespread bipartisan congressional support for a law (even Trump supported a precursor to the law), the ban stood behind concerns that the Chinese government can force the app’s parent company, ByteDance, to hand them over any amount of collected user data – American data, in this case. Another cited concern had to do with algorithmic control and the ease the Chinese government had in creating foreign propaganda.
Many took issue with the push for this ban, calling it a free speech violation. I believe this argument to be misguided. It is not about the content. You could post the exact same commentary on any other app without worry of retribution, and Trump knows that too. The banning and subsequent “unbanning” was an overblown issue that Trump capitalized on for political points.
The state simply has too much to lose if China usurps its global dominance. For that reason, it is in their best interest to minimize any influence China has on the American people.
Clearly, the younger generations of Americans do not think of China in that same light. Some of us are too concerned about the tech-based oligarchy forming around Donald Trump to care whether the Chinese government can pinpoint our precise locations.
Nonetheless, it should come as no surprise that the U.S. government would be disapproving of a foreign rival having the ability to access Americans’ personal data and manipulate the content we see. As I mentioned, even Donald Trump agreed back in 2020 before he realized it would benefit him to be on the flip side of this coin.
By announcing his plans to issue a 90-day extension before the ban really takes effect, Trump did 170 million Americans a favor. All those users can return to their routine scrolling. He gave back a source of joy in their lives.
It’s a funny tactic, but TikTok explicitly crediting Trump as the person responsible for something “good” staying in people’s lives will bump his popularity, especially among young Americans. Compound that with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu crediting Trump for applying the necessary pressure to reach a ceasefire – another important issue to younger citizens – and the Democrats are left playing catch-up, even if Trump has made clear he does not want a free Palestine.
Joe Biden’s choice not to veto the bipartisan law, thereby saving the social media app, turned out to be a huge gift to his rival. His not seeing it coming makes some sense; over 200 Republican congresspeople voted for the ban, after all. But it’s a results business, which left Biden and the rest of his party appearing to be tripping over themselves trying to cross the finish line these last few months. Meanwhile, Trump was already in stride before officially beginning.
The Democratic Party could use some major changes after some of its failures this past year. They refused to take advantage of the primaries, switched presidential candidates late, lost the election and are now giving their biggest enemy opportunities to increase his popularity.
You need not get fooled, though. Just because Trump is fighting a ban on TikTok does not mean he cares for Americans, especially young people. He has consistently fought against climate protections, immigration, LGBTQ+ rights and gun violence prevention measures.
Trump will make plays like saving TikTok to gain favor. He likely did gain favor with young Americans who might not know any better, but they need to learn. He is so obviously not afraid to immediately turn around and make decisions that ruin lives.
On his first day back in office, he already used the momentum to prove this right: He withdrew the nation from the Paris Climate Agreement, pardoned around 1,500 Jan. 6 Capitol stormers and tried to end birthright citizenship – which is completely unconstitutional, so say the 22 states suing him for it and the judge that blocked it.
It will be a long four years full of grim news. But curling into a ball and accepting this “fate” is just about the worst thing we can do. Apathy is the low point. It’s imperative that we care. Of course, not too much is in the hands of the people after the country voted him back into office. As for the rest, we will just have to rely on state rights being as strong as Thomas Jefferson once hoped.
As far as I’m concerned, you can go back to using TikTok if you really need that fix. But do not let its livelihood warp your view of Trump.
