Will Trump step in to save TikTok?

Millions of Americans will have tried to follow their routine this morning: turn off the alarm, grab the phone, start to scroll. For TikTok users, there will have been a moment of false hope: the shortest clip of a video starts to play, before the notification pops up that everyone was expecting, but no one was certain would actually appear: “Sorry, TikTok isn’t available right now.”

With a federal ban looming overhead, the company decided to cut off operations for its 170 million users in America, making clear in the statement who is responsible for suspended operations: “A law banning TikTok has been enacted in the US. Unfortunately, that means you can’t use TikTok right now.” This comes after the Supreme Court unanimously upheld last year’s law — implemented on national security grounds — that the app’s China-owned parent company ByteDance would need to divest in order for Americans to keep pouring their data into the app.

The concerns over data use are no doubt real: a company of ByteDance’s size in China does not get to operate without some kind of oversight from the Chinese Communist Party. What plenty of former ByteDance executives allege happens at the company have exacerbated DC politicians’ worst fears about data-gathering and tracking. There was no scenario where the status-quo was going to survive in a post-Covid era, defined by distrust and calls for further decoupling between China and the West.

Still, some are asking this morning if TikTok has aired on the side of the dramatic by voluntarily banning itself as it approached the deadline. Joe Biden’s White House officials had announced that they would not enforce the social-media ban, seemingly creating an opening for further dialogue and extensions to deal with TikTok’s ownership. Of course, Biden only has a day left in the Oval Office. It’s Number 47 that is going to make the big call on the social media site’s future — and TikTok is fully aware of who is now in charge.

“We are fortunate that President Trump has indicated that he will work with us on a solution to reinstate TikTok once he takes office,” the rest of the notice on the app reads. “Please stay tuned!” It’s a plea for a pardon, and whoever is managing TikTok’s communications knows how to play Donald Trump’s game. It’s a glowing, yet deferential, message for the president-elect: one that nicely allows for Trump to play hero and negotiator — two of his favorite activities. 

Trump has already indicated that he will be gracious, telling NBC this weekend that he will “most likely” give the app a ninety-day extension period to give the company more time to see through a successful sale. He has previously pointed to TikTok as a platform that helped him win over more of the youth vote in last November’s election, closing the gap for voters aged eighteen to twenty-nine significantly.

This is probably not what Trump’s new friend Mark Zuckerberg wants to hear, who recently converted to MAGA. In the absence of TikTok, Instagram (whose parent company is Meta) is expected to be the big winner, as its video reel content has a likeness to TikTok’s design. Just days before the ban deadline, the photo app changed its dimensions for posting, from square to vertical, which favors the app’s “reel” (i.e. video) content. It’s a change that had been planned for a while, yet implemented at a most interesting time.

But these days, it is the tech bros who are beholden to Trump, and the president-elect appears to be feeling generous. How will Gen Z respond if the incoming president reinstates their right to scroll? While Trump did indeed shift the dial on the youth vote (he shifted almost every dial towards the right), Kamala Harris still won young adults by eleven points. Will thank-you videos or deep, introspective content start appearing if their least-favorite politician saves the most coveted job of influencing? It might be worth reinstating the app, just for the reactions.