Did Trump really try to ban TikTok back in 2020? Everything you need to know
TikTok went offline in the U.S. for around 24 hours. (Getty)
Following the banning – and subsequent unbanning – of TikTok this past weekend, President-elect Donald Trump has been hailed as the saviour of the video-sharing platform, marking a complete turnaround from his stance just five years ago.
The Supreme Court upheld the ban of TikTok on Friday (January 17) and the app became unavailable to American users on Sunday (January 19) despite the Biden Administration saying that they would not enforce it.
A message popped up on TikTok, reading: “Sorry, TikTok isn’t available right now. A law banning TikTok has been enacted in the U.S. Unfortunately, that means you can’t use TIkTok for now.”
“We are fortunate that President Trump has indicated that he will work with us on a solution to reinstate TikTok once he takes office. Please stay tuned!”
Trump previously asked the Supreme Court to pause the ban from going into effect so that his Administration could look for a “political resolution” to the situation. In a news conference in December, he said: “You know, I have a warm spot in my heart for TikTok because I won youth by 34 points and there are those that say that TikTok has something to do with it.”
But, he didn’t always want to protect TikTok.
Back in 2020, Trump himself attempted to spearhead a ban of the app, leading to a federal judge blocking the proposed ban in December 2020 after TikTok sued, with the argument that it would violate free speech and due process rights.
The previous Trump Administration alleged that TikTok was a security threat because the Chinese government could spy on the personal data of more than 150 million Americans.
Trump signed the original executive order in August 2020, with TikTok responding that they were “shocked” by the move and claiming that the administration “paid no attention to facts, dictated terms of an agreement without going through standard legal processes, and tried to insert itself into negotiations between private businesses”.
The ban formed part of a series of aggressive tactics on the part of the Trump Administration to counter the influence of China.
Later that same year, Trump gave his blessing for ByteDance to resolve these security concerns by having U.S. companies Oracle and Walmart invest in the app, but the divestment never came to fruition.
The Biden administration did not immediately push forward with a ban for TikTok after the 2021 inauguration but last April, then-President Joe Biden signed a bipartisan law forcing TikTok’s parent company ByteDance to divest from the app or risk being banned.
ByteDance said it would not sell TikTok and claimed that the law infringed the First Amendment rights of the company.
Since then, the law went through several rounds of appeals, while Trump’s relationship with TikTok CEO Shou Chew appeared to grow stronger amidst the uncertainty.
In a video posted to TikTok following the latest Supreme Court decision, Chew thanked Trump for his “commitment to work with us to find a solution that keeps TikTok available in the United States”.
Trump reaffirmed this on Sunday in a post on Truth Social in which he wrote that he plans to issue an executive order following his inauguration that would “extend the period of time before the law’s prohibitions take effect, so that we can make a deal to protect our national security.”
He also urged TikTok’s partners to allow the app to be restored, saying that “the order will also confirm that there will be no liability for any company that helped keep TikTok from going dark before my order.”
But before that could even happen, the app came back online – with TikTok explicitly praising Trump as the reason why.
TikTok welcomed users back with a notification that read: “Thanks for your patience and support. As a result of President Trump’s efforts, TikTok is back in the U.S.!”
Trump has likely scored a major political victory by claiming responsibility for restoring the popular app, despite previously also wanting to ban it, while Chew is expected to be seated front-and-center at Trump’s inauguration today (January 20).
He is now seeking a sale of the app in a 50/50 joint venture between ByteDance and a new, American owner.
This is seen as the only way for TikTok to remain available in the U.S. as the ban could only be reversed with a new law, which might be quite a feat considering the broad, bipartisan support for the ban in the first place.
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