Trump Administration Will Shut Down TikTok Downloads and Updates to App

Good thing Addison Rae got that movie deal because it looks like TikTok is finally dying. Early on Friday September 18th, the Trump administration announced that popular Chinese-owned apps WeChat and TikTok are being removed from the App Store. This ban goes into effect on Sunday, September 20th. Within hours after this announcement, “tiktokban” started trending on Twitter. 

TikTok has been a subject of distaste for the administration for months now, citing concerns about data stealing. The administration is planning on making TikTok basically unusable in the United States by mid-November. Only strong proof that TikTok is not a threat to American society and government will save it now. 

As expected, Twitter immediately took to joking about the whole situation. This isn’t the first time people have seen this happen. Vine only died a few years ago. Much like when Musical.ly or Vine died, many users joked about future struggles of popular TikTok users. One user impersonated a generic TikTok star, writing, “’Hey mom, it’s me, TikTok got banned so we can’t afford to live in the Hype House anymore. I’m sorry for saying that I didn’t need you and that I was on my grind, anyway, can I come back home? Love you.” #tiktokban”

Other users focused on a different approach, making fun of TikTokers that would have to get a real job once the app is removed. “TikTokers working from 8-5 making the travis scott meal #tiktokban”

https://twitter.com/_J_ERA/status/1306959916033363969

Also trending with “#tiktokban” was “Flappy Bird.” Flappy Bird was an insanely popular game that only lived for about a year, from early 2013 to early 2014. It blew up rapidly, but elicited a strong reaction from players. Phones were broken and thrown at walls, eventually making the creator so guilty that he removed it from the app store. People are comparing Flappy Bird’s short life to TikTok’s. PCMag tweeted, “Someone’s going to try and sell an iPhone with Flappy Bird, Fortnite and TikTok on eBay for $10,000 next week.”

Twitter actually attempted to explain why Flappy Bird was seemingly trending for no reason. They wrote, “When Flappy Bird suddenly stopped appearing in app stores, fans of the game made a point not to delete the app or replace their phone for fear they would never get the game back. That same strategy is being applied to TikTok and WeChat after the US Commerce Department decided to ban the Chinese-owned apps in the interest of ‘national security.’”

https://twitter.com/sincerelyivy_/status/1307030401592958976?s=20

Some Twitter users did take a more serious approach. They complained that the Trump administration was focusing on the completely wrong issue giving the state of present American society. One user wrote, “So let me get this straight. We are in the middle of a pandemic that has killed 200k americans,the economy is trash,and there are mass protests against police brutality but Trump wants to focus on banning tik tok? #tiktokban”

Entrepreneur Carol Roth said, “The #tiktokban is something that China would do. We are turning into China on many levels. Tell people the security concerns and let them make their own decisions. It’s not like US-based apps don’t spy on us all day long.”

The final reaction seemed to be an early funeral for TikTok. Instead of bringing in fan cams, users actually seemed to mourn the loss of an app that brought joy to so many.  “TikTok has literally helped a generation of depressed teens feel like they belong.Tiktok is more then dancing and funny videos. There are so many different things on tiktok from relatable memes,school help, and feeling more confident in yourself. That’s all I gotta say #tiktokban”

A different sad user tweeted, “#tiktokban Idk about y’all but this seems like a violation of our rights. Tiktok literally United A whole generation, it helped us understand that there are people just like us everywhere. Okay, Take away our safe place and we will take away yours.”

The future of TikTok is very unclear. The Trump administration has been threatening to take away the app for a while now, but this is the first time there is a clear end date. Microsoft recently tried to acquire the app, but the deal fell through. Instead TikTok went to Oracle. It is unclear what Oracle is planning to do with TikTok, but updated security is a possibility, meaning that TikTok might be able to exist.

Will TikTok be able to survive the wrath of the Trump administration? Or will it move to the graveyard of apps gone too soon? Only time will tell the fate of this app. 

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