President Trump’s announcement that he plans to ban the video-sharing platform TikTok from operating in the United States unleashed a wave of criticism from its…
President Trump’s announcement that he plans to ban the video-sharing platform TikTok from operating in the United States unleashed a wave of criticism from its users, including from those who accused the president of squandering freedoms of speech and expression.
Trump revealed on Friday that he could use emergency economic powers or an executive order as early as Saturday to officially ban the Chinese-owned company from the U. S., citing national security concerns. The announcement came hours after reports that Microsoft was in talks to purchase TikTok from the Beijing-based company ByteDance.
The wildly popular app has hundreds of millions of users worldwide and became a household name in 2020 as Americans faced coronavirus lockdowns and use of the app increased.
It was downloaded 315 million times in the first three months of this year, more quarterly downloads than any other app in history, according to analytics company Sensor Tower.
TikTok said the app, which allows users to watch and create short videos featuring audio and other effects, offered “entertainment and connection” during the isolation and uncertainty of the pandemic.
“If TikTok did shut down, it would be like losing a bunch of really close friends I made, losing all the progress and work I did to get a big following,” user Ashleigh Hunniford, 17, told The New York Times last week.
