The clock is ticking for TikTok’s social media platform after the U.S. Government announced a new act prohibiting users from updating or accessing the app. This will start on Jan. 19, 2025, unless TikTok’s owner, ByteDance, sells the app to a U.S. company.

TikTok has been garnering suspicious looks from the U.S. government since 2019 when there were federal charges for violating child-privacy laws, which were settled after TikTok paid a hefty $5.7 million fine. Later that year, ByteDance refused content moderation conducted by the U.S. government. U.S. politicians waved their red flags and started an investigation in November 2019. TikTok was then banned from all military phones, both governmental and personal.

The COVID-19 pandemic hit everyone hard and China’s reputation went downhill after being unfairly blamed for it. In 2020, President Donald J. Trump viewed the app as a national security threat and ordered it to be banned, spreading widespread panic among frequent users in the United States. Trump then banned American companies from having anything to do with ByteDance, and although Microsoft contemplated buying TikTok, nothing came of it. In Nov. 2020, Joe Biden was elected president but did not take office until January 2021, so Trump’s plans were retired.

In 2021, the ban and legal cases against TikTok were postponed and reached a standstill. In 2022, the case was reopened when Buzzfeed reported that ByteDance had been accessing TikTok user’s private information, and ByteDance subsequently fired any employees who accessed the data. In 2023, The White House ordered TikTok to be deleted from all government devices and held a congressional hearing for TikTok CEO, Shou Zi Chew, where Chew denied that TikTok is a tool for the Chinese government. In 2024, the U.S. Senate put a bill called the “TikTok ban-or-sell” on President Biden’s desk to sign or deny, and he signed it. As a result, ByteDance sued the U.S. government, saying that the law was unconstitutional. 

With the result of the 2024 election, American TikTok users fear for the ban of the app, but Trump has said that he wants to save TikTok not just for the American people, but also his son.  “We will take a look,” says President-elect Trump on CBS News. “[I] have a warm spot in my heart for TikTok. I won the youth by 34 points and those may say TikTok had something to do with it.” He mentions his son, Barron Trump, and how he talks about the app to him. “He gave me names and I said ‘Who is that?’ [and] he said ‘You have got to be kidding.’” Though Trump has positively talked about TikTok, most still do not know what will come of the ban and how it will affect American users.