The rise – and potential fall – of TikTok in the US


Trump’s authority to hit pause on a law that passed by wide margins in Congress, the US Supreme Court unanimously upheld on Jan 17, and which took effect on Jan 19 is uncertain. — AP

The possibility of the US outlawing TikTok kept influencers and users in anxious limbo during the four-plus years that lawmakers and judges debated the fate of the video-sharing platform. The moment its fans dreaded arrived late Jan 18 when the platform went dark in response to a federal ban.

By midday Jan 19, TikTok said it was restoring services to users in the United States after President-elect Donald Trump announced on Truth Social he would issue an executive order giving TikTok’s China-based parent company extra time to find an approved buyer before a ban goes into full effect.

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