I’m not sure we’ll have a choice here soon; The same parties that spent my entire life warning me about information control, about how banning websites and censoring platforms was something authoritarian regimes do, are the ones leading the charge to do exactly that. And they are acting like it is normal.
TikTok was banned. Then, just hours later, it came back online because Trump delayed the enforcement. Then it I reminded myself… This was never really about national security. If it were, they would not be flipping the switch on and off like some kind of game. This was a test, a proof of concept. The government just showed that they can make an entire platform disappear. If we let this slide, they will do it again.
How We Got Here: The Ban That Should Not Have Happened
This all started with Trump in 2020 when he pushed to ban TikTok over its Chinese ownership. His administration tried to force a U.S. buyout, but legal battles and corporate indecision stalled the process. When Biden took office, the issue faded until last year when Congress found a way to sneak the ban through without any real discussion.
Instead of debating it openly, they buried the legislation inside a massive foreign aid bill. If you wanted to support funding for Ukraine and Israel, you had to also support forcing TikTok’s sale or its shutdown. They took away the choice to fight this on its own merits, making sure it passed without public resistance. In January 2025, the Supreme Court upheld it. That should have been the end of TikTok in the U.S.
But just as it disappeared, Trump, who started this whole mess, hit pause and granted a 90-day extension to keep the app running while a new buyer is sought. Now people are acting like he saved the day, but the outcome is exactly the same.
TikTok either gets sold to a U.S. company or dies. His so-called protection just buys time for the sale to happen while keeping the public distracted with vague language about a “joint venture with the U.S.,” whatever that even means. Hopefully, “U.S.” just refers to an American company and not the government actually investing in it, but with the way things are now, I would not be surprised if Musk, Zuckerberg, or Bezos somehow end up with a stake in it.
Big Tech Will Eat It Alive
The worst part is what comes next. TikTok is on borrowed time. The same people who have spent years gutting platforms, squeezing them for profit, and turning them into sterile, ad-filled wastelands are the ones most likely to take control (if they haven’t already.) They will brand it as a victory for American ownership, but in reality, it will be a consolidation of power by the same tech giants who already dominate the internet.
This Feels Like a Digital Book Burning
What is happening here is bigger than TikTok. This is about control. The government just proved they can rip an entire platform away from millions of people overnight, and they do not even have to justify it in a meaningful way. They do not need an emergency, a national security incident, or public consensus. All they had to do was slip it into an unrelated bill and let the courts handle the rest.
And it is both parties doing it. The same people who spent years telling me that censorship was the tool of oppressive regimes are the ones who just used it.
The ones who built entire careers warning us about communist-style information control are perfectly fine with the U.S. government picking and choosing which platforms get to exist. The hypocrisy is staggering.
The worst part is that it worked. The government has spent years normalizing this kind of overreach, keeping things just stable enough that people do not notice what is happening until it is too late. Every time someone sounded the alarm, the response was the same. “It’s fine, that could never happen here, it’ll be fine in 4 years.”
It just did. Now they know they can get away with it.
Why This Is Not Just a “Silly App”
People keep brushing this off like it is no big deal. It is just TikTok. Who cares?
But TikTok is not just an app. It is an entire cultural and economic ecosystem. It is where people build businesses, share ideas, access independent news, and create art. It is where voices that do not fit into traditional media’s pre-approved narratives actually get heard.
This is not about whether you like TikTok. It is about what happens when we let the government pick and choose what platforms are allowed to exist. This time, they went after an app. Next time, it could be something much bigger. Beyond that, it is also about the ~7 million small businesses and countless paid creators who rely on TikTok to make a living.
For many, this is not just social media. It is their livelihood, their reach, their community. The government’s ability to flip a switch and wipe out an entire economy overnight should scare everyone.
Join the conversation