China, TikTok, and Trump: Data Privacy or Digital Censorship?
With over 1 billion users worldwide, 34 million daily video uploads, and an average daily usage of 95 minutes, it’s no secret that TikTok has achieved global prominence. Reports indicate that up to 68% of American teens use the platform. Whether as a distraction, a search engine, a source of entertainment, or even a livelihood, TikTok has become a significant part of daily life for many users. On January 19th, 2025, many American users got a glimpse of life without TikTok when the app suddenly went offline. However, before the situation fully unfolded, the platform was back up and running the next day, leaving Americans confused as to what exactly happened — and concerned about potential government overreach.
Before launching TikTok, the Chinese software company ByteDance developed Douyin, a social media app launched in September 2016. Within a year, Douyin had amassed 100 million users. Although initially confined to China, ByteDance’s CEO, Zhang Yiming, soon sought to expand internationally.
When ByteDance launched TikTok, Douyin’s international counterpart, in November 2017, it faced competition from Musical.ly, a Shanghai startup headquartered in the United States. Musical.ly had already gained popularity by allowing users to lip-sync to trending songs. In August 2018, ByteDance acquired Musical.ly and merged it with TikTok, combining features and user data.
With access to Musical.ly’s large user base, TikTok’s popularity skyrocketed as celebrities and companies created accounts. TikTok’s 2019 partnership with the National Football League (NFL) demonstrated its marketing potential and prompted an influx of company accounts and hashtag challenges. In 2022, ByteDance expanded TikTok’s team to accommodate new features, such as TikTok Shop, and major advertisers like Amazon, Apple, and Pepsi. By 2023, generating nearly $15 billion USD in revenue.
Despite competition from Instagram Reels and YouTube Shorts, each modeled after TikTok, TikTok remained dominant. While these apps may seem similar to casual users, loyal TikTok fans argue that it stands out — and they may be right. Its signature feature, the “For You” page, uses artificial intelligence to observe user behavior and curate content tailored to users’ preferences and emotions, offering a personalized and engaging experience. The AI curates users’ ‘for you’ pages by tracking their liked videos, searches, time spent on specific videos, and more.
Despite widespread user support, TikTok’s rise was not without controversy. Beginning in 2020, concerns about the app’s data tracking and storage practices led to government scrutiny worldwide. National security fears over the Chinese government’s potential access to user data, accusations of promoting online addiction, and the display of offensive content fueled calls to ban the app. Allegations of censorship also emerged, particularly potent in countries with ongoing conflicts with China, as users reported differences in content by location.
Several governments acted swiftly, starting with India’s full ban in 2020, followed by Afghanistan, Iran, Kyrgyzstan, Nepal, and Somalia. Many other countries, including Vietnam, Austria, France, Russia, the United Kingdom, and Canada, imposed restrictions, such as bans on government devices.
In 2020, U.S. President Donald Trump proposed banning TikTok, citing national security threats due to its Chinese ownership. TikTok users had also organized anti-Trump trends, including a coordinated effort to reserve seats at Trump rallies without attending — a move widely publicized on the platform. Despite criticisms that the ban infringed on free speech, Trump demanded that ByteDance divest from TikTok or sell its U.S. operations. This faced opposition from the Chinese government, which criticized the forced sale, increasing tensions between the Trump administration and China. ByteDance responded with a lawsuit, claiming the ban was politically motivated and lacked a legal basis. They argued that Trump’s trade war with China and his efforts to rally re-election support played roles in his move to ban the app.
When Joe Biden took office in 2021, he revoked Trump’s ban order but emphasized ongoing scrutiny of foreign-owned applications. In June 2022, new privacy concerns arose following reports that ByteDance employees had extensive access to user data. The Biden administration responded with a TikTok ban on government devices and launched an FBI investigation into allegations of spying on U.S. journalists.
Ironically, in March 2024, Trump created a TikTok account, claiming that banning it would only benefit Facebook, which he partially blamed for his 2020 election loss. This move led some conservatives, previously skeptical of TikTok, to create accounts, marking the first significant right-wing presence on the platform.
As the Israel-Hamas war escalated in 2024, the Biden administration faced widespread criticism for its support of Israel. Much of this criticism was posted and circulated by young people on TikTok. University students across the U.S. organized protests and encampments, which critics partially blamed on TikTok’s perceived pro-Palestinian bias, largely because hashtag metrics showed pro-Palestine hashtags received far more views than their pro-Israel counterparts. This criticism prompted renewed calls for a TikTok ban. The allegations, in concert with alleged data leaking and other national security concerns, motivated Biden to sign the “Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act” (PAFACA), giving ByteDance a 75-day ultimatum: sell TikTok or face a ban effective at the start of 2025.
On January 19th, 2025, the final day of Biden’s term, ByteDance suspended TikTok services in the United States. It was removed from the app store, and users who had already installed it were met with an error message. Millions were left confused and frustrated, abruptly cut off from the platform that had become integral to their daily lives.
In the immediate aftermath of the ban, U.S.TikTok users flocked to alternative platforms, particularly Chinese alternatives like RedNote, which became the most downloaded app in the U.S. app store, with users coining the phrase ‘#tiktokrefugee’ in their videos. Tech companies raced to fill the void left by TikTok’s absence, with some, like Reels, adopting similar AI-driven content curation models. ByteDance’s decision to suspend operations sparked debates about government overreach, data privacy, and free speech. Meanwhile, tensions between the U.S. and China persisted as then-president-elect Donald Trump promised steep tariffs on Chinese goods.
However, Americans were surprised to see TikTok up and running again the next day. Trump issued an executive order that paused the PAFACA ban for 75 days, stating he was working towards 50% TikTok ownership by a U.S. company. Users returned to a message that read, “Welcome back! Thanks for your patience and support. As a result of President Trump’s efforts, TikTok is back in the U.S.!”.
Excitement over TikTok’s return quickly gave way to confusion as reports arose about differences in the app, noting fewer live streams, restricted accounts, and banned hashtags. Many claimed comments using the hashtag “#freepalestine” were being removed, and content criticizing Trump or Elon Musk was censored or “shadowbanned,” a term used to describe when content is restricted without a creator’s knowledge. Some popular content creators had their accounts suspended for “policy violations,” which had never previously been an issue with the app. TikTok refuted these claims. However, many fear harsher censorship may be on the horizon.
While censorship allegations have not been confirmed, they may provide insight into a possible future for the app. TikTok has the potential to inform and mobilize quickly. As it develops ties with the Trump administration, many Americans have raised concerns that they will experience censorship of anti-Trump content. It begs us to consider if this violates the right to free speech and prompts questions about how far possible restrictions will go. As the world navigates this unprecedented situation, the question remains: will the void it leaves behind pave the way for innovation or signal the rise of further digital restrictions?
Featured Image: Donald Trump campaigning at a 2016 rally in Albuquerque, New Mexico. “Donald Trump” was photographed by Alejandro Marentes and is licensed under CC BY 2.0.
Edited by Iona Riga and Daniel Harris
