The TikTok Ban: Trump’s Ties to the App and its April Deadline
(Photo courtesy of Donald Trump’s verified Instagram account @realdonaldtrump)
Michael Oliss | Contributing Writer
TikTok, with an assist from the courts, continues to avoid having President Trump hit the “off” button at least until early April.
Some University of Dayton students, while happy for continued access to what national media reports call the most downloaded app in the country since 2022, think the entire episode involving the social media platform was a made up political farce.”
TikTok was reinstated for 75 days following a short ban in the United States. President Trump reversed his original stance on the app, signing an executive order bringing back TikTok on his first day in office.
TikTok has been the most downloaded app in the country since 2022. On Jan. 18 of this year, the app’s users – which make up almost a third of the entire population of adults in this country – were restricted from using the app just hours before a federal ban was supposed to take effect.
“A law banning TikTok has been enacted in the U.S.,” a message in the app said.
“Unfortunately, that means you can’t use TikTok.”
“I was really shocked when I opened the app,” said Andrew Otis, a fourth-year student at UD. “Seeing that message on the screen was pretty surreal.”
Last year, Trump told voters he would do what he could to save the social media app from a national ban. Users were still worried about the future, given the president’s controversial executive order banning American companies from doing business with the Chinese-owned company ByteDance and its subsidiaries, including TikTok.
This order, which Trump signed in August 2020, was the beginning of what was to become a national TikTok ban.
In the years following his election loss in 2020, Trump altered his position on TikTok to be more supportive of the app. The president responsible for the ban was the very one who ended it. The official ban lasted less than 24 hours. On Jan. 20, UD students rejoiced at the news of the app returning.
“I’m happy it’s back,” said Cecilia Degarmo, a junior at UD. “Being banned was bad for freedom of speech. It can do a lot of good, like bringing attention to important issues like the war in Gaza or the fires in California.”
Despite the overwhelming positive feelings regarding the return of the app, some students felt the timing of the ban was more than coincidental.
“I think TikTok being banned was a ploy,” Degarmo said. “The ban lasted like five minutes and then TikTok thanked President Trump.”
Surprisingly, the view did not seem controversial – or conspiratorial – among students. Many of them joked about the timing and wording of the message that was released by TikTok. Some even accused the company and the Trump administration of collaborating with one another for mutual gain.
“I quit TikTok before it got banned. Actually, it would probably be good for mental health if it was still banned,” Eric Litterer, senior mechanical engineering major, said. “I think the ban was all a stunt, though. The wording of the message, thanking Trump, was weird.”
The TikTok ban, which lasted less than a single day, has been a massive talking point in the country and on UD’s campus.
Trump restored American citizens’ power to scroll the app’s billions of videos. The company, which has been on the market for quite some time now, has until April 5 to find a buyer. According to the Associated Press, Elon Musk and Kevin O’Leary are both considered frontrunners.
Ultimately, the man responsible for the ban and return of TikTok, Trump, will surely have some impact on the process, directly or indirectly.
He suggested to the New York Times that whoever buys the app should give half of it to the United States. Regardless of who or what country controls TikTok by the April 5 deadline, one thing is certain: UD students will have something to say about it.
REPORTER’S NOTE: Michael Oliss is a student in the Flyer News Practicum, offered through the Department of Communication. Most students in the Practicum are assigned stories to write. Some executive photo assignments. Others may want to produce a podcast or work on FN social media. All Practicum assignments are geared toward giving students the chance to have their work published on the student-run online newspaper website.