On January 18th, millions of TikTok users—influencers and mindless scrollers alike—mourned the loss of the social media app, TikTok, across the United States. For a few hours, anyway. Distributing, maintaining, and providing internet service for TikTok is now technically illegal in the U.S., but the app was up and running again within the day, with a cheerful popup telling users, “Thanks for your patience and support. As a result of President Trump’s efforts, TikTok is back in the U.S.!” So, what’s going on with the TikTok ban? And did Donald Trump really rescue TikTok from oblivion?

A Short History of the TikTok Ban

The legislation behind the TikTok ban, officially known as the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act (PAFACAA), passed in Congress with support from Republicans and Democrats alike back in March of 2024, driven by alleged concerns about national security because TikTok is based in China. Joe Biden signed the act into law in April, and TikTok contested the ban shortly afterward, arguing that the PAFACAA was a threat to our constitutional freedom of speech. As many Asian Americans have also pointed out, the TikTok ban reeks of anti-Asian xenophobia, and influencers have likened the act’s anti-communist paranoia to a modern “red scare.” 

On January 17th, the Supreme Court unanimously decided to uphold the PAFACAA; on the 18th, TikTok went dark. Very, very briefly.

“Saving” TikTok?

On January 19th, Trump said he would sign an executive order delaying enforcement of the PAFACAA once he was president. Suddenly, TikTok returned, flying a banner lauding “President Trump” as its hero—an incredibly misleading message, considering that Trump hadn’t been inaugurated as president yet and definitely hadn’t signed any executive orders.

Even now that Trump has signed an executive order granting ByteDance, the China-based company that owns TikTok, an extra 75 days to find an American buyer, we need to keep in mind that the situation is still more complicated than TikTok’s “welcome back” message might make it seem. Because Trump’s executive order goes directly against federal law, it doesn’t have much legal standing. Yes, app stores and internet service providers can host TikTok with presidential approval, but legally they’re still risking bankruptcy—Congress and U.S. courts are very capable of blocking executive orders, and companies going against the PAFACAA could receive up to $5,000 in fines per TikTok user.

So, no, Trump didn’t save TikTok. It’s worth remembering that Trump actually wanted to ban TikTok first—concerned about Chinese communists stealing American data, he tried to ban the app with a botched executive order signed in 2020. We should also take note of the far-right American buyers Trump now has in mind for TikTok’s future—including Elon Musk, who’s heading Trump’s new Department of Government Efficiency and notably performed the Nazi salute twice onstage at the 2025 presidential inauguration.

Recognizing Propaganda

Since TikTok returned from the dead and claimed Trump was responsible, many internet users are calling TikTok out, criticizing its 12-hour outage as a blatant publicity stunt meant to work in Trump’s favor. When news of TikTok’s suspiciously-timed return reached the rest of the internet, a popular meme began making its rounds on Tumblr again: “You are not immune to propaganda.”

Equal Justice USA defines propaganda as “the systemic dissemination of biased or misleading information to influence public opinion.” By this definition, TikTok hailing Trump as its savior when he hadn’t actually taken any action, calling him president before he was president—both misleading and clearly biased in Trump’s favor—counts as propaganda. It twists the truth to benefit Trump’s narrative, likely with the intent to make Trump more popular among American TikTok users.

Also alarming are the concerns that have emerged since January 19th that TikTok “came back wrong.” Allegedly, TikTokers have noticed increased censorship on TikTok since its return: Comments using phrases like “Free Palestine” are disappearing. Videos criticizing Trump and Elon Musk won’t appear in search results and are being flagged for violating community guidelines.

The TikTok ban itself sets an alarming precedent for freedom of expression and xenophobic and anti-communist paranoia in the U.S., and Trump’s handling of the ban speaks to the dangers of propaganda, censorship, and disinformation. Now, perhaps, more than ever, it’s important that we check our facts and think critically about everything we see online—including and especially on TikTok, given its unabashed praise of Donald Trump and its shaky future in the States. Learning to recognize propaganda when we see it may be a good place for us to start.