It’s been a banner weekend for zombification.
TikTok was discovered lifeless in its U.S. residence on Saturday following a deadly collision with the Supreme Court docket. The favored social media app — owned by the Chinese language tech firm ByteDance — was famend for its vibrant group of creators and a “particular sauce” algorithm that scared the pants off congressional lawmakers final spring. Survived by greater than 170 million American customers, the platform modified popular culture and leisure advertising as we all know it perpetually. She was solely 7.
A day later, on Sunday, January 19, President-elect Donald Trump seemingly helped convey TikTok again to life. The eve of his inauguration has been a vital deadline since Congress agreed that the app must divest from ByteDance or face a national ban in April 2024. Caught on the intersection of free speech and nationwide safety, the software program supporting the platform is taken into account among the many most dear tech property on the earth. ByteDance has not been compelled to promote, however TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew will attend Trump’s swearing in on Monday alongside fellow tech moguls Mark Zuckerberg, Elon Musk, and Jeff Bezos. All shall be seated in positions of honor on the dais.
“Thanks in your persistence and help,” the TikTok welcome display screen learn by mid-Sunday, mere hours after the platform went darkish and disappeared from app shops. “Because of President Trump’s efforts, TikTok is again within the U.S.! You’ll be able to proceed to create, share, and uncover all of the stuff you love on TikTok.”
Information is king in 2025, and considerations about China’s affect over TikTok are two-fold. What data does ByteDance have about American customers that China would possibly need? And what content material is TikTok feeding Individuals that China would possibly profit from? These questions have but to be resolved, however the promise of an govt order from Trump was sufficient to revive the app and postpone enforcement of the regulation. Upheld by the nation’s highest courtroom late final week, the choice will “almost certainly” be delayed for not less than 90 days, per Trump. The extension will give TikTok and authorities officers extra time to compromise. It additionally stands to fortify the platform as a Trump-backed a part of the American consciousness. Regardless of the previous and future president’s makes an attempt to dam it throughout his final time period, Trump signed his identify on each ends of TikTok’s whiplash weekend.
“We’re lucky that President Trump has indicated that he’ll work with us on an answer to reinstate TikTok as soon as he takes workplace,” the app learn in a single day whereas it was quickly unusable for scads of upset customers.
Who decides what’s censored from the American folks — and why — is of paramount significance in a world more and more pushed by digital interplay. As content material moderation efforts are rolled again at Meta (impacting each Fb and Instagram) and X continues its confused campaign (try Musk fumbling this current PR mess with the gamer contingent), TikTok represents a type of closing frontier for modern political discourse. It’s additionally the following step in Trump’s effort to realize management over the audiences and artists who rejected him in 2024 and 2020.
Opposed by massive names from Taylor Swift to Beyoncé, Trump obtained slapped by the leisure business final election with the failed however nonetheless viral Kamala Harris marketing campaign. Her bid for presidential energy could have come up quick — however on TikTok, all the things from Charli XCX’s “Brat” to the beloved coconut tree meme and “Saturday Evening Stay” clips exemplified how leisure continues to drive dialog regardless of myriad struggles going through the business. Whilst numerous creatives flounder to make ends meet within the tortured financial system that obtained Trump elected, popular culture steers political opinion.
The week earlier than the TikTok ban, Trump appointed actors Mel Gibson, Jon Voight, and Sylvester Stallone as “Particular Ambassadors to an amazing however very troubled place, Hollywood, California.” The announcement was made on social media and promised to make Hollywood nice once more: “BIGGER, BETTER, AND STRONGER THAN EVER BEFORE!” Trump wrote. The repeat president has simply shy of 15 million followers on TikTok, however the look of his identify on the app’s welcome display screen was nonetheless startling to many. Even those that primarily yearned for the nice outdated days — for that dopamine-heavy carousel of cats and canine, purple milkshakes, choreographed dances, and limitless PR alternatives — throughout TikTok’s temporary absence remarked on such a divisive determine turning into the platform’s de facto mascot.
When you use TikTok, then you recognize the app was principally again to regular by Sunday night time. Creators whose incomes have been threatened by the ban have been rejoicing whereas a number of political commentators on TikTok are utilizing it to precise considerations about Trump’s pivot. An outdated audio clip from “Household Man” — which gained reputation amongst anxious customers as a type of doomsday rallying cry earlier than the ban — remains to be trending.
“Since we’re all gonna die, there’s another secret I really feel I’ve to share with you,” says Peter Griffin, earlier than delivering some of the outrageous bits of movie criticism ever. “I didn’t look after ‘The Godfather.’”
Like a consiglieri in a turf struggle, the mob returning to TikTok this weekend does so within the shadow of Trump’s White Home. That’s good or unhealthy relying in your private politics, however there’s little question that it’s only the start for what’s already shaping as much as be one of many yr’s most high-stakes leisure tales. Whether or not ByteDance continues to function within the U.S. or not, this weekend modified the popular culture panorama greater than every other TikTok second. Now on this — the eve of our president’s second inauguration — the festivities proceed, whilst Hollywood chokes down a suggestion it couldn’t refuse.