Episode 327: The TikTok Ban
Cat videos. Viral dances. Real community. It seems silly that a simple app could become an outlet, a source of hope, answers to medical mysteries, on-the-ground guerilla journalism, and even a way for small businesses to find customers, but starting in 2020, the US government set its sights on the app for more reasons than a viral dance. Now, the app and its community's future hangs in the balance. This week's episode is The TikTok Ban.
SOURCES
5 Things to Know About ByteDance, TikTok’s Parent Company, Foundation For Defense of Democracies: https://www.fdd.org/analysis/2024/03/12/5-things-to-know-about-bytedance-tiktoks-parent-company/
A Platform Storing TikTok Corporate Secrets Was Inspected by the Chinese Government, Forbes: https://www.forbes.com/sites/emilybaker-white/2023/11/01/a-platform-storing-tiktok-corporate-secrets-was-inspected-by-the-chinese-government/
Amicus Brief - NYU Law Professors: https://drive.google.com/file/d/13UMyUEYNlZyNSc6HnkyGZKV3nFIf2eLD/view
As TikTok Shutdown Looms, Should LGBTQ+ Users Turn to RedNote? Everything We Know About the App, Them: https://www.them.us/story/tiktok-shutdown-looms-rednote-alternative-lgbtq-content-policy
Biden administration will leave it to Trump to implement TikTok ban, ABC News: https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/biden-administration-leave-trump-implement-tiktok-ban/story?id=117753133
Biden Administration Quietly Carves TikTok Ban Loophole for Itself, Leaked Document Shows, Ken Klippenstein: https://www.kenklippenstein.com/p/biden-administration-quietly-carves
Bytedance: https://www.bytedance.com/en/
China Opposes Forced TikTok Sale By U.S. Regulators, Forbes: https://www.forbes.com/sites/tylerroush/2023/03/23/china-opposes-forced-tiktok-sale-by-us-regulators/
China signals willingness to allow TikTok sale, Axios: https://www.axios.com/2025/01/20/china-tiktok-sale-willing
Class-Action Lawsuit Claims TikTok Steals Kids' Data And Sends It To China, NPR: https://www.npr.org/2020/08/04/898836158/class-action-lawsuit-claims-tiktok-steals-kids-data-and-sends-it-to-china
Critics renew calls for a TikTok ban, claiming platform has an anti-Israel bias, CNBC: https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/social-media/tiktok-ban-israel-gaza-palestine-hamas-account-creator-video-rcna122849
DCPD-202100490 - Executive Order 14034-Protecting Americans' Sensitive Data From Foreign Adversaries: https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/DCPD-202100490
Everything you need to know about ByteDance, the company behind TikTok, Digiday: https://digiday.com/media/everything-you-need-to-know-about-bytedance-the-company-behind-tiktok/
Executive Order on Addressing the Threat Posed by TikTok, Trump White House Archives: https://trumpwhitehouse.archives.gov/presidential-actions/executive-order-addressing-threat-posed-tiktok/
Former ByteDance executive says Chinese Communist Party tracked Hong Kong protesters via data, Associated Press:
GOP senator questions Trump's "legal authority" to delay TikTok ban upheld by SCOTUS, CNN: https://www.cnn.com/politics/live-news/trump-inauguration-01-2025#cm656aw3h00243b6o5whs5bvu
How ByteDance Became the World’s Most Valuable Startup, Harvard Business Review: https://hbr.org/2022/02/how-bytedance-became-the-worlds-most-valuable-startup
In re TikTok, Consumer Privacy Litig., 617 F. Supp. 3d 904, 912 (N.D. Ill. 2022): https://casetext.com/case/in-re-tiktok-consumer-privacy-litig
Introducing the $200M TikTok Creator Fund, TikTok: https://newsroom.tiktok.com/en-us/introducing-the-200-million-tiktok-creator-fund
Is the TikTok ban about China — or is it really about Gaza?, Forward: https://forward.com/culture/688840/tiktok-ban-gaza-palestine-israel-antisemitism/
Letter to FBI Director Christopher Wray from Congress, December 2023: https://selectcommitteeontheccp.house.gov/sites/evo-subsites/selectcommitteeontheccp.house.gov/files/evo-media-document/12.7.23-scc-letter-to-fbi-tiktok.pdf
Look What Quarantine Made Me Do: One Millennial’s Guide to Using TikTok, Glamour: https://www.glamour.com/story/how-to-make-a-tik-tok
President Issues Executive Order Revoking TikTok and WeChat Executive Orders and Addressing Access by Foreign Adversaries to U.S. Personal Data, Covington Law: https://www.cov.com/en/news-and-insights/insights/2021/06/president-issues-executive-order-revoking-tiktok-and-wechat-executive-orders-and-addressing-access-by-foreign-adversaries-to-us-personal-data
Quick Guide to TikTok & Its Growth During COVID-19, Adlucent: https://www.adlucent.com/resources/blog/quick-guide-to-tiktok-its-growth-during-covid-19/
Select Committee Requests FBI Briefing on TikTok & ByteDance, House of Representatives: https://democrats-selectcommitteeontheccp.house.gov/media/press-releases/select-committee-requests-fbi-briefing-tiktok-bytedance
Sen. Romney links TikTok ban to pro-Palestinian content, Axios: https://www.axios.com/local/salt-lake-city/2024/05/06/senator-romney-antony-blinken-tiktok-ban-israel-palestinian-content
The Chinese version of TikTok is limiting kids to 40 minutes a day, CNN: https://www.cnn.com/2021/09/20/tech/china-tiktok-douyin-usage-limit-intl-hnk/index.html
The lawmakers who voted to ban TikTok own a ton of tech stocks, Quartz: https://qz.com/tiktok-ban-congress-tech-stocks-disclosures-1851358401
The rise — and potential fall — of TikTok in the US, AP News: https://apnews.com/article/tiktok-ban-trump-supreme-court-36c3c3b42f743a35c69e1c74341f1f30
The Rise of TikTok During the Covid-19 Pandemic, The Amherst Student: https://amherststudent.com/article/the-rise-of-tiktok-during-the-covid-19-pandemic/
The Supreme Court Upheld the US TikTok Ban. Now What?, NYU Law: https://www.nyu.edu/about/news-publications/news/2025/january/sprigman-tiktok-q---a.html
TikTok admits using its app to spy on reporters in effort to track leaks, Guardian: https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2022/dec/22/tiktok-bytedance-workers-fired-data-access-journalists
TikTok Ban Live Updates: CEO Attends Trump’s Inauguration—After Trump Vows To ‘Save’ App, Forbes: https://www.forbes.com/sites/antoniopequenoiv/2025/01/20/tiktok-ban-live-updates-ceo-attends-trumps-inauguration-after-trump-vows-to-save-app/
TikTok banned on U.S. government devices, and the U.S. is not alone. Here's where the app is restricted., CBS News: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/tiktok-banned-us-government-where-else-around-the-world/
TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew testifies before Congress, CSPAN: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_E-4jtTFsO4
TikTok Engagement Among Kids Surges During the Pandemic, Marketing Charts: https://www.marketingcharts.com/demographics-and-audiences/teens-and-younger-113749
TikTok is offline in the U.S. after Supreme Court upholds ban, NPR: https://www.npr.org/2025/01/18/nx-s1-5266146/tiktok-offline-supreme-court-ban
TikTok restoring US service after Donald Trump pledges to delay ban, ABC News: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-01-20/tiktok-us-shutdown-ban-donald-trump-order/104836168
TikTok v. Garland, SCOTUS Decision: https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/24pdf/24-656_ca7d.pdf
TikTok: The story of a social media giant, BBC: https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-53640724
Transcript: US Supreme Court Oral Argument on TikTok, TechPolicy: https://www.techpolicy.press/transcript-us-supreme-court-oral-argument-on-tiktok/
Trump Signs Executive Order That Will Effectively Ban Use Of TikTok In the U.S., NPR: https://www.npr.org/2020/08/06/900019185/trump-signs-executive-order-that-will-effectively-ban-use-of-tiktok-in-the-u-s
US Consumers Are Flocking to TikTok, Emarketer: https://www.emarketer.com/content/us-consumers-are-flocking-to-tiktok
Video Social Networking App Musical.ly Agrees to Settle FTC Allegations That it Violated Children’s Privacy Law, FTC: https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/news/press-releases/2019/02/video-social-networking-app-musically-agrees-settle-ftc-allegations-it-violated-childrens-privacy
What Happened to TikTok’s Project Texas?, LawFare Media: https://www.lawfaremedia.org/article/what-happened-to-tiktok-s-project-texas
What The Rise Of TikTok Says About Generation Z, Forbes: https://www.forbes.com/councils/forbestechcouncil/2020/07/07/what-the-rise-of-tiktok-says-about-generation-z/
Why Beijing Could Have the Last Say on Any TikTok Deal, New York Times: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/01/17/us/politics/tiktok-ban-sale-china.html
Why Do Young Americans Support Hamas? Look at TikTok., Free Press: https://www.thefp.com/p/tik-tok-young-americans-hamas-mike-gallag
Why TikTok’s Popularity Exploded During the Pandemic, Variety: https://variety.com/2021/digital/news/tiktok-popularity-covid-1234893740/
Young Democrats sound the alarm about banning TikTok before the election, Politico: https://www.politico.com/news/2024/03/14/tiktok-ban-biden-young-voters-00147014
