TikTok

Table of Contents

Introduction
Pros
- Pro 1: TikTok poses a threat to U.S. national security, serving as a propaganda arm of the Chinese Communist Party.
- Pro 2: TikTok is rife with dangerous misinformation that the government can and should rightly ban.
- Pro 3: A “tough on China” approach is needed to safeguard the United States and its citizens.
Cons
- Con 1: TikTok is no more a threat than American-owned social media sites that also collect and sell user data.
- Con 2: Banning TikTok is discriminatory, undemocratic, and un-American.
- Con 3: Singling out China and TikTok for recriminations is xenophobic and rank political theater.
U.S. Federal and State Bans on TikTok
International Bans on TikTok
Historical Timeline
- 2012 - ByteDance Is Founded
- July 2014 - Early Version of musical.ly Launches on iTunes
- April 2015 through March 2016 - muscial.ly Takes Off
- Sept. 2016 - ByteDance Launches Douyin
- June 2017 - China’s National Intelligence Law Goes into Effect
- Sep. 13, 2017 - TikTok Launches in Indonesia
- Nov. 2017 - ByteDance Acquires musical.ly
- Aug. 2, 2018 - TikTok Merges with musical.ly, Launching App in United States
- Jan. 26, 2019 - TikTok Allows Advertising
- Nov. 1, 2019 - TikTok Reportedly Under U.S. National Security Review
- Dec. 16, 2019 - U.S. Department of Defense Issues Guidance on TikTok
- Dec. 2019 - U.S. Army and Navy Ban TikTok on Government Devices
- Jan. 2020 - U.S. Marine Corps Bans TikTok on Government Devices
- Jan. 3, 2020 - U.S. Air Force and Coast Guard Confirm TikTok Bans
- Aug. 6, 2020 - President Donald Trump Issues Executive Order 13942
- Sep. 19, 2020 - Oracle Partners with TikTok as Part of “Project Texas”
- Nov. 12, 2020 - U.S. Department of Commerce Will Not Enforce TikTok Ban
- May 19, 2021 - ByteDance CEO Steps Down
- June 11, 2021 - President Joe Biden Overturns Trump Executive Order 13942
- Oct. 26, 2021 - TikTok’s Michael Beckerman Testifies in Subcommittee
- June 17, 2022 - BuzzFeed Reports TikTok Employees Repeatedly Accessed American User Data
- July 2022 - “Project Texas” Begins Roll Out
- July 13 2022 - FCC Commissioner Says Troops’ TikTok Use Endangers U.S. Military
- Oct. 20, 2022 - Forbes Reports ByteDance Plan to Surveil Physical Locations of Specific U.S. Citizens
- Dec. 22, 2022 - ByteDance Reveals Data Leak
- Dec. 29, 2022 - Biden Signs No TikTok on Government Devices Act
- Feb. 24, 2023 - DATA Act Introduced to the House of Representatives
- Mar. 7, 2023 - RESTRICT Act Introduced to the Senate
- Mar. 23, 2023 - U.S. Congress Questions TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew
- Apr. to May 2023 - Montana Bans TikTok for All Users and Faces Lawsuits
- June 2, 2023 - Department of Defense Bans TikTok
- Nov. 30, 2023 - Federal Judge Blocks Montana’s TikTok Ban
- Jan. 31, 2024 - TikTok CEO Testifies to Senate Judiciary Committee Hearing
- Mar. 13, 2024 - Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act Passed in House of Representatives
- Apr. 23, 2024 - President Biden Signed into Law the National Security Package
- May 7, 2024 - ByteDance Sues to Stop Ban
- Aug. 2, 2024 - DOJ and FTC File Civil Lawsuit against TikTok
- Oct. 8, 2024 - 14 Attorneys General Sue TikTok
- Oct. 8, 2024 - Internal TikTok Documents Reveal Plan to Influence U.S. Politicians
- Oct. 11, 2024 - Sens. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) and Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) Request TikTok Internal Documents on Child Endangerment
- Nov. 6, 2024 - Canada Orders Dissolution of Canadian TikTok Business
- Dec. 6, 2024 - Federal Appeals Court Upholds Federal Ability to Ban TikTok
- Dec. 6, 2024 - Romania Calls off Presidential Election, Citing Concerns of TikTok Interference
- Dec. 8, 2024 - TikTok Requests Temporary Freeze on TikTok Ban Law
- Dec. 13, 2024 - D.C. Circuit Court Denies Request to Freeze TikTok Ban Law
- Dec. 16, 2024 - TikTok Asks the U.S. Supreme Court Emergency Stay on TikTok Ban Law
- Dec. 18, 2024 - U.S. Supreme Court Agrees to Review TikTok Law
- Dec. 21, 2024 - Albania Bans TikTok for One Year
- Dec. 27, 2024 - Trump Asks Supreme Court to Delay Start of TikTok Ban
- Jan. 10, 2025 - Supreme Court Hears TikTok Case
- Jan. 15, 2025 - TikTok Indicates the App Will Be Completely Shut Down Immediately if Banned
- Jan. 15, 2025 - TikTok Says U.S. Employees Will Keep Jobs if Ban is Enforced
- Jan. 16, 2025 - TikTok “Refugees” Flock to RedNote
- Jan. 17, 2025 - Reports Say Biden Administration Won’t Enforce TikTok Ban
- Jan. 17, 2025 - U.S. Supreme Court Upholds TikTok Ban
- Jan. 19, 2025 - U.S. TikTok Ban Goes into Effect
- Jan. 19, 2025 - TikTok Begins Restoring Service in the U.S.
- Jan. 20, 2025 - Trump Issues TikTok Executive Order on Day One in Office
Discussion Questions
Take Action
Sources

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TikTok: References & Edit History

Article Contributors

Primary Contributors

The Editors of ProCon
ProCon's editors write and verify new content and update existing content. ProCon presents the pro and con arguments to debatable issues in a straightforward, nonpartisan, freely accessible way.

Other Encyclopedia Britannica Contributors

Amy Tikkanen

Article History

Type	Description	Contributor	Date
	Updates added.	The Editors of ProCon	Jan 21, 2025
	Trump executive order added.	The Editors of ProCon	Jan 21, 2025
	News update added.	The Editors of ProCon	Jan 19, 2025
	Subtitle adjusted.	The Editors of ProCon	Jan 19, 2025
	TikTok ban went into effect added	The Editors of ProCon	Jan 19, 2025
	Copy edits.	The Editors of ProCon	Jan 19, 2025
	Ban added, text adjusted.	The Editors of ProCon	Jan 19, 2025
	Timeline updates	The Editors of ProCon	Jan 17, 2025
	Timeline update.	The Editors of ProCon	Jan 17, 2025
	Text adjusted.	The Editors of ProCon	Jan 17, 2025
	U.S. user statistics updated.	The Editors of ProCon	Jan 17, 2025
	Timeline updated with Supreme Court hearing.	The Editors of ProCon	Jan 16, 2025
	TikTok plans to shut down app on January 19 added to timeline	The Editors of ProCon	Jan 15, 2025
	November 6 through December 27, 2024 timeline updates	The Editors of ProCon	Jan 09, 2025
	Timeline update.	The Editors of ProCon	Dec 19, 2024
	Timeline update.	The Editors of ProCon	Dec 17, 2024
	General update.	The Editors of ProCon	Dec 16, 2024
	Links added, sources updated.	The Editors of ProCon	Dec 02, 2024
	Subtitle correction	The Editors of ProCon	Nov 25, 2024
	New article added.	Amy Tikkanen	Oct 27, 2024