Is TikTok Shutting Down?
Banning of the popular social media app, is continuing as scheduled
90% of TikTokers access the app on a daily basis, according to Oblero.
September 25, 2020
Over the past few months, rumors have been swirling about President Donald Trump shutting down the popular app, Tik Tok.
On July 31, Trump gave ByteDance, the Chinese owner of TikTok until late-September to finalize a deal to make or the app will be banned from the U.S. The order has now been extended to November 12. His reasoning being, that the app poses a threat to national security due to its collection of American citizens and their data.
Many teens are upset over the possible closure of the app feeling the reason behind the app’s closure is just a way for our president to get back at those who used the app for “trolling” his reelection campaign. Teen users on the app pranked the president this past summer, by buying seats and not attending. But many feel as though their creative outlet is being taken away.
“I use TikTok basically every day,” freshman Victoria Nguyen said. “And to me, TikTok is not just a form of entertainment but also a way to express yourself and be creative.”
Another teen freshman, Jackson Sinnard says, “TikTok shouldn’t even be at risk of closing for security reasons, there’s no personal information we give to TikTok, Trump is just upset ‘TikTik’ users were able to ruin his rally.”
According to analytics from Google Trends, searches for a variety of questions about the app have spiked recently with people asking if the will be banned, deleted, or shut in the U.S. in the coming days.
There are currently biddings between companies such as Microsoft, Oracle, and surprisingly, Walmart. Offers have been going back and forth, with rejections & negotiations not providing any clear answer. It is most likely that Oracle & Walmart will hold a 20% stake in the company along with other American investment firms.
“Oracle is now set to be announced as TikTok’s “trusted tech partner” in the U.S. Even though with this new deal Trump has still requested to ban TikTok & WeChat from the app store, allowing those who own the app continued access but those who don’t already have the app downloaded will not be able to redownload it.
In retaliation, TikTok has filed a lawsuit to seek a temporary block on the ban.
