6:44 pm - February 21, 2025
In a rapid and unexpected turn of events, TikTok, the wildly popular social media app, found itself at the center of a heated debate over its future in the U.S. On Thursday, Google Play announced that it had restored TikTok to its app store, following a series of dramatic developments. The move came after President Donald Trump made promises to “save” the app and signed an executive action that delayed the enforcement of a ban on the platform. Similarly, Bloomberg and CNBC reported that Apple also planned to bring TikTok back to its app store by Thursday evening. By that evening, CNN confirmed that TikTok was once again available for download on various phones, marking a significant reversal in the app’s uncertain fate.
The drama surrounding TikTok’s availability in the U.S. stems from a law signed by President Joe Biden in April of last year. The law gave ByteDance, TikTok’s Chinese parent company, 270 days to sell the app to a U.S.-based owner or face a ban over concerns about national security. The situation reached a boiling point when the Supreme Court upheld the ban just one day before the app was set to go dark. However, in a surprising twist, TikTok shut down for only about 14 hours in January before returning to operation. The app’s quick revival was attributed to assurances made by then-President-elect Donald Trump, who pledged to keep the platform running in the U.S. Despite this, TikTok’s 175 million users faced at least one major inconvenience: the app, along with Lemon8 and CapCut (both owned by ByteDance), was no longer available for download on Apple and Google Play stores as of that January weekend.
Apple had previously explained its decision to remove TikTok from its app store by citing the ban, though the app remained available for those who had already downloaded it. Trump, who had signaled even before taking office that he would take action to delay the ban, played a crucial role in TikTok’s temporary reprieve. On January 19, Trump took to Truth Social to announce his plans, stating, “I will issue an executive order on Monday to 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 made it clear that he would not hold TikTok’s technology partners, including Apple, Google, and Oracle, liable for continuing to host the app until the order was signed. This move effectively bought TikTok more time to address the concerns surrounding its ownership and operation in the U.S.
The original law required TikTok’s technology partners, such as Oracle, which hosts TikTok’s content in the U.S., and Apple and Google, which host the app on their app stores, to cease their support for the platform. Failure to comply would have resulted in fines of up to $5,000 per person with access to the platform, starting on a Sunday. Trump officially took office on January 20 and wasted no time in signing the executive order later that day. The order granted TikTok an additional 75 days to find a new owner, postponing the ban and giving the app a temporary lifeline. The action was framed as an effort to “determine the appropriate course forward in an orderly way that protects national security while avoiding an abrupt shutdown of a communications platform used by millions of Americans.”
Trump’s decision to intervene in TikTok’s fate was not without its personal touches. In a conversation with reporters in the Oval Office, Trump revealed that his change of heart on TikTok was influenced by his own experience with the app. “And remember, TikTok is largely about kids, young kids,” he remarked. While acknowledging concerns about data security, particularly regarding Chinese access to information about young users, Trump downplayed these risks, suggesting that the U.S. had “bigger problems than that.” He also emphasized his newfound authority to either “sell it or close it,” stating, “I have the right to either sell it or close it, and we’ll make that determination.” These comments highlighted the balancing act between national security concerns and the practical reality of TikTok’s widespread popularity and cultural impact in the U.S.
As the situation continues to unfold, TikTok’s future remains uncertain, but one thing is clear: the app’s millions of users breathed a collective sigh of relief as it reappeared in app stores. The temporary reprieve granted by Trump’s executive order has given TikTok and its parent company, ByteDance, a window of opportunity to negotiate a resolution that satisfies all parties involved. Whether this will ultimately result in a sale to a U.S.-based owner or a more permanent stay of the ban remains to be seen. For now, TikTok’s return to app stores has ensured that its vast user base can continue to enjoy the platform, albeit with the knowledge that its long-term fate is still very much up in the air.