Back in 2020, the Trump administration was the first to propose any sort of TikTok ban. The reasoning they gave was simple: They were concerned about the safety of Americans’ data in the hands of the Chinese Communist Party. This was combined with a worry about pro-CCP propaganda on the app, which is owned by ByteDance, a Chinese company.
These claims were, unsurprisingly, relatively baseless. If anything, they are based in xenophobic, anti-Asian fearmongering, telling Americans that they can’t trust Chinese people. Have you ever seen someone talk about Asian food by saying something ignorant like, “Are you sure you know what you’re eating?” or “Do you know what’s in that?” To me, it seems similar.
The ignorance of our politicians in regard to TikTok was very apparent during TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew’s infamous testimony to Congress where he was pressed with ridiculous questions, such as “Does TikTok access the home Wi-Fi network?” Chew, despite being Singaporean and not a Chinese citizen, was forced to thwart endless inquiries about his affiliation with the Chinese government.
In order to prevent the ban, the proposal required that ByteDance sell TikTok to a United States-owned company. The U.S. will tell you it’s to keep your data safe, but in reality, TikTok just has a more advanced algorithm system that American companies want their hands on to make more money with your data.
Here we are, five years past President Trump’s original proposal, and it seems that it doesn’t matter whether you are a Republican or Democrat. At the end of the day, these old politicians are too disconnected from younger generations. Banning a social media app is censorship 101, and the government knows that. The app gives a voice to a generation that is more generally aware of the world around them now than ever, and they don’t like that. The United States government does not want the people to be aware of its dirty hands.
This ban would not just harm content creators who rely on TikTok for a career and businesses that use TikTok as a marketing tool, but it would also open a very scary Pandora’s box when it comes to the government shutting down whatever app or website they feel is a threat to them.
Originally, the ban was going to be the main point of this piece. But guess who came in to “save the day?” Donald Trump! Or at least, that’s who TikTok credits. Hell, the app literally opened up with a message thanking him for his efforts.
Donald Trump saved TikTok from being banned by the American government, and all the worries I just mentioned are no more! You can watch Subway Surfers Gameplay under Kai Cenat stream clips again! TikTok users must be so glad that Trump came in to defeat the evil person who proposed this ban in the first place … oh, wait.
Lo and behold, this whole TikTok ban saga ended up being a botched job by the Biden administration and the Democratic party that allowed Trump to swoop in and fix a problem he created. This clear propaganda setup is an attempt for Trump to win over the youth, and it could not be more obvious.
Donald Trump never cared about your data. In fact, Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Meta and someone who had a front-row seat at Trump’s inauguration was caught using Facebook user data to push election propaganda, the very thing they are “concerned” the Chinese government is doing with TikTok.
I mentioned before that TikTok has a strong algorithm. Why wouldn’t someone like Zuckerberg or Elon Musk who owns X, formerly known as Twitter, want to be in the loop? Access to that technology could do wonders for their already obscene amounts of wealth. Additionally, if Trump actually does want TikTok banned, he can just do it later. He has only given a 75-day delay for the ban.
The TikTok ban very much deeper than surface level. It’s no secret that older generations, especially politicians, don’t totally get social media — but what they do know is that it can be weaponized. It can be used to manipulate public opinion, moderate free speech, and in the case of TikTok, as a PR stunt. That’s exactly what the Trump administration did here — don’t be fooled.
