“As far as TikTok is concerned, we’re banning them from the United States,” Trump stated to reporters on Friday July 31st. Tik Tok, formerly known as Musically, is a worldwide entertainment app where creators are encouraged to publish short videos that include dancing, lip-syncing, art and other forms of entertainment. On July 31, Trump boarded Air Force One, and allegedly told reporters he plans on banning the app from the USA.
According to Wikipedia; “TikTok is a Chinese video-sharing social networking service owned by ByteDance, a Beijing-based Internet technology company founded in 2012 by Zhang Yiming.” After merging with Musical.ly in August 2018, the app became one of the most downloaded in the USA, and there are now more than 80 million monthly active users.
Just this past July, TikTok announced that they have created a 200 million dollars fund to start paying their biggest creators in order for them to accomplish bigger goals in young talents. TikTok stars like Charli D’Amelio and Addison Easterling have received the opportunity to collaborate with major brands such as Hollister, Morphe and American Eagle in order to create clothing and makeup lines. However, TikTok does not currently directly pay their creators and has only given them the opportunity for popularity. As per their spokesperson, the app is now: “looking to help support ambitious creators who are seeking opportunities to foster a livelihood through their innovative content” by paying them. However, requirements include being over the age of 18 so young creators, including Charli D’Amelio will not be able to receive a monthly payment.
This past August 6th, Trump declared TikTok as a “National Emergency” and has decided to ban it within 45 days if the US operations of the app are not purchased by an American company. According to Trump, TikTok “captures” information from its users and “could be used by the Chinese government against American interests.” On Sunday, Microsoft confirmed in a blog post that they are hoping to wrap up the talk to buy TikTok before September 15. Trump said that Microsoft or any large American company could purchase TikTok as long as the federal government received a lot of money.
Anna Lucia Christensen
Articles Sources
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Millman, Ethan. “TikTok Is Now Directly Paying Creators.” Rolling Stone, Rolling Stone, 23 July 2020
Wells, Jason, and Pranav Dixit. “Trump Just Declared TikTok A ‘National Emergency’ And Has Threatened To Ban It.” BuzzFeed News, BuzzFeed News, 6 Aug. 2020,