Was the whole TikTok drama a bait-and-switch to make Trump look good?
Political commentators have suggested that the drama surrounding TikTok is a “scam” to make President-elect Donald Trump “look good” after he has vowed to save it.
The Chinese-owned social media app went dark in the U.S. on Saturday night and posted a message at about 10.30 p.m. Eastern time saying: “Sorry, TikTok isn’t available right now. We are fortunate that President Trump has indicated that he will work with us on a solution to reinstate TikTok once he takes office. Please stay tuned!”
The Biden administration blasted TikTok’s statement as a “stunt” in a statement on Saturday.
And on Sunday morning, Trump vowed to issue an executive order on Monday, the day of his inauguration, to give the app’s parent company ByteDance more time to find a buyer. Early Sunday afternoon, TikTok announced it was “in the process of restoring service” to the app — and thanked Trump for his support.
“We thank President Trump for providing the necessary clarity and assurance to our service providers that they will face no penalties providing TikTok to over 170 million Americans and allowing over 7 million small businesses to thrive,” it said in a statement. “It’s a strong stand for the First Amendment and against arbitrary censorship. We will work with President Trump on a long-term solution that keeps TikTok in the United States.”
Skeptics have highlighted how Trump was the one who initially called for the controversial Chinese-owned social media app to be banned in 2020. But since Trump’s following on TikTok grew — he has now amassed 14.8 million followers — and he hinted it helped to clinch the election, the president-elect has changed his tune.
“I have a warm spot in my heart for TikTok because I won youth by 34 points,” Trump said in December. “And there are those that say TikTok had something to do with that.”
“This TikTok scam by Trump is really something,” Ron Filipowski, a defense attorney and editor-in-chief of the left-leaning MeidasTouch news outlet said. “In a few days, we will be hearing from Trump about how he ‘saved Tik Tok’ & ‘brought it back.’ He literally created the problem by calling for a ban. Rs pass a law. It gets banned. It goes dark for a day or 2, then Trump ‘saves’ it.”
Journalist Aaron Rupar said that Trump now has the big tech companies “working on his behalf.”
“Trump hated TikTok (because China) until it helped him win an election (as even he acknowledges) and now he’s going to save it and take a victory lap,” Rupar said. “So he’ll have X, TikTok, Insta, and Facebook all working on his behalf. That’s a big difference between now and 2017.”
Heath Mayo, founder of the conservative group Principles First, added: “Trump got China to place what amounts to a front-page ad on the phone of every American on TikTok. Selling out US national security to promote himself as some savior. Surprise, surprise.”
Senator Chris Murphy (D-Ct) said the move by Trump was “terrifying.”
“TikTok tucking itself in with Trump. Twitter under control of the White House. Facebook making major changes to placate MAGA, doing PR campaign to align w Trump,” Murphy wrote in a post on X. “Does everyone not see what’s happening here and how terrifying this is.”
Others shared dismay at the idea that Trump can effectively void a federal law. “I’m trying, and I hope other people will try, to hold onto the simple notion that a US president cannot simply declare a federal law that was passed last year and literally upheld this week to be a nullity—even if it’s a not-so-hot law,” writer and lawyer Luppe B. Luppen said in a post on BlueSky. “The Congress is the body that can amend or repeal federal laws.”
On August 6, 2020, Trump issued an executive order to impose sanctions on TikTok. “The United States must take aggressive action against the owners of TikTok to protect our national security,” Trump said in the order.
It called for ByteDance to divest its U.S. interests or face sanctions, but Trump’s effort to ban the app was then blocked by a federal judge.
Since then, he has pledged support for the social media giant, even inviting TikTok’s CEO to his inauguration.
The Independent has contacted the Trump transition team for comment.
Trump’s incoming national security adviser Mike Waltz defended the president-elect on Sunday.
He said that Trump was working in “real time” with tech companies to reach an agreement for new US ownership of TikTok — something a number of his allies, including Canada’s Kevin O’Leary, have also been at work seeking to make a reality.
Waltz also indicated that it was possible for TikTok to remain under Chinese ownership, albeit with “firewalls” (such as Americans’ data being stored in US-based servers) to guard against perceived national security threats.
Asked by CNN’s Dana Bash on State of the Union whether that meant "capitulating" to China by accepting a deal wherein the app was not sold, Waltz issued a denial.
“No, no, no,” he told Bash. “Both can be true at the same time. TikTok can continue to exist, and whether that’s in American hands, owned by an American company, or whether the data and algorithms are fully protected from Chinese interference, there’s a number of...formulas this can take.”