On January 19th of this year, over 170 million United States citizens were prohibited from using the popular social media platform, “TikTok.” In 2020, President Donald Trump set forth an Executive Order (No. 13942) due to his concerns, mainly having to do with National security in the United States. It is believed by the government that the information gathered about millions of American citizens by the app is being used to track and for financial benefit. The president believes that the app continues to “threaten the national security, foreign policy, and economy of the United States.” according to the Executive Order.

When the 20th came, TikTok was restored in all of its glory with a message for users re-entering in the app that read as follows: “Thanks for your patience and support. As a result of President Trump’s efforts, TikTok is back in the U.S.! You can continue to create, share, and discover all the things you love on TikTok.” 

This doesn’t ensure that TikTok will be saved forever, though. The app has 90 days to find an American buyer for it to be able to stay in the country permanently, and some revisions regarding the privacy of Americans. As of right now, TikTok is not available for download in the App Store on IPhones, or Google Play on Androids. This is believed to be a protection by the companies regarding the ban, and that they are waiting to see whether it is to be brought back or not. 

Users have since made videos recognizing changes that they’ve noticed to certain aspects of the app. Most of the complaints include allegedly not seeing ads, not seeing lives, issues with sharing videos related to political topics, and a sudden appearance of a Facebook profile on the app. The reason remains to be undetermined, but most speculate that the ownership of the app is no longer the same.