In a world where distraction has become the most valuable currency going, TikTok has never flown higher; the Chinese-owned social media company, which allows users to post short videos in a way that’s pretty much Vine (but operating in a world where they took Vine away from us, the bastards), has become a phenomenon during quarantine, to the point that “TikTok teens” have become a distinct and fascinating part of the rapidly mutating pop culture ecosystem. But the “China-owned” part of that equation has never sat especially well with the Trump administration—which went after Grindr on similar grounds last year—and now Donald Trump has declared his intention to ban the service in the U.S., which should go super, awesome, amazingly well.
This is per a tweet posted by AP reporter Zeke Miller, who said that Trump issued his statement to the press pool today on Air Force One. “As far as TikTok is concerned, we’re banning them from the United States,” Trump told reporters, adding that he’s also not in favor of the company’s Chinese owners, ByteDance, selling the service off to a U.S. company, as has been previously floated. (Microsoft was rumored to be in the mix for such a sale.) Trump cited emergency economic powers or executive orders as a good way for him to execute this idea that has tumored up in his brain, on account of those avenues not requiring anyone to actually agree with him about this decision.
TikTok has come under criticism for some of its business practices, with users having launched a class action suit alleging that some of their personal data had been taken by the app and transferred overseas, and others alleging that the app didn’t do enough to protect the data of kids using it. (There’s also been a whole web of international investigations into the app’s privacy and data usage policies by a variety of American and European governments, as well as questions about whether the Chinese government has exerted pressure on ByteDance to censor posts or encourage the spread of propaganda.) The app is, if not suspect, then decidedly under suspicion, with India having already banned its use. None of which, we have to imagine, is going to insulate Trump much once the TikTokkers hear about this. (We’re kidding; they’re internet teens, they read about this four hours before we even caught a whiff.) And god, but we can only imagine what sort of hexes the TikTok witches have whipped up to deal with this one.
114 Comments
*Insert Ken Watanabe “Let them fight” .gif*
Ironically, banning apps from other countries is exactly what China does on a regular basis.
Americans can have a little fascism, as a treat.
imagine defending TikTok & China because you hate Trump so much
kill yourself
I have no say over what China does, but imagine defending Trump because you love fascism so much.
Japan is about to ban TikTokIndia as wellso once again, imagine defending TikTok and China because you hate Trump so much
There’s an echo in here.
Imagine defending Trump because you hate Blacks, Latinos, gays & women so much
Imagine the God Emperor ordering you to have strong feelings about TikTok, and you doing it.
imagine looking the other way while an unpopular president toys with fascism in order to stay in power because you hate the libs..
Imagine thinking banning a security threat – which other countries like India and Japan are banning as well – equals fAsCiSM
Mr. Potato Head! Mr. Potato Head! The poster is actually condemning China here, not giving it a break!
You’re giving away all our best tricks!
Oh, no, I see. It’s just some shit you spammed every thread with.
That was our excuse for torturing prisoners of war too.
The reasons for each aren’t so ironic. There is meat to the accusations. China bans them so it can continue doing some really nasty shit. In fact you’d be potentially in trouble for posting your comment. I’m curious to see what comes with TikTok. Maybe it’s nothing.
Yes, banning apps because the government doesn’t like what’s being said on them is the EXACT SAME as banning apps for stealing user data.
Banning it for stealing data AND being Chinese. Our data is stolen every day.
Yes, banning apps because the government doesn’t like what’s being said
on them is the EXACT SAME as banning apps for stealing user data.
Plenty of apps steal user data all the time (see: Facebook, Google, LinkedIn, etc.) but are never banned. China bans American apps not so much because they “dont’ like what’s being said,” but because it allows copycat apps to take over.
Our data is harvested and stolen 100x over every day, by corporations and goverments foreign and domestic.
Why does the NSA still operate? No one stole more of our data than they did/do.
Well, he just lost my wife’s vote. Just kidding; he never had it. And, he sure as shit ain’t getting it now.
Every once in a while the bloated orange carrot gets something right. The day after my daughter installed TicTok her Apple ID tried to do a login that originated from China. Maybe a coincidence, maybe not.
They are not going to take it well.
All of America isn’t going to take it well. America wasn’t founded to become a Stalinist satellite state of Russia.
It would have been some pretty impressive foresight if it was.
One of the most disturbing things about Trump is how often he uses phrases like “I have that authority”.It’s such a telling sign of truly horrible ‘leadership’ and failed character; it’s not the language of someone who wishes to do well and sees himself ultimately as part of a team.
imagine defending TikTok & China because you hate Trump so much
kill yourself
LOL! He mad!
There you are!!! It’s Saturday! What’s my petty little Pringle mad about today?
It is, indeed, solely your imagination.Try harder.
Imagine defending Trump because you hate Blacks, Latinos, gays & women so much
Point to me where in that comment they even mention tiktok let alone defend it?
Imagine willfully ignoring that Vladimir Putin has bounties on the heads of our service men and women because you hate the libs so much.
What does that have to do with banning TikTok? LOL
Do you prefer Mr. Putin’s dick plain, or do you like it if he seasons it in your President’s asshole first?Worthless cunt.
Yikes.
Imagine defending Trump.
Was that meant to be a coherent contribution to this thread?
Imagine defending Trump.
Oh he didn’t get to dismissing this one yet.
The truly unimaginable thing is not hating Trump. How does anybody still think “yep, that’s my guy!”? How did they think that the first time and how are they STILL thinking it? It’s insane. He has ruined EVERYTHING he has touched.
There are very good services out there that will help you deprogram from your cult. Would you like a contact list?
Imagine worshiping Trump so much that you interpret any criticism of him as approval of everything he opposes.
imagine defending TikTok & China because you hate Trump so much
Imagine being such a desperate edgelord that you have to resort to defending a traitorous president to get even a pathetic couple of clicks.
LOL! Funny. You’re not that stupid are you?
Imagine a president being more concerned about what China does with TikTok than with Russia putting out hits on US military personnel.
imagine defending TikTok & China because you hate Trump so much
“Any man who has to say ‘I am the King’ is no true King.”
“Only the true Messiah denies His divinity!”- Life of Brian
To “EconomicAnxiety” in true MAGA chicken shit wuss fashion who dismissed my reply, you’re pathetic since my comment was- Imagine defending Trump.
It is also a sign of how ultimately weak and inadequate he feels, even if he doesn’t acknowledge it to even himself. To paraphrase Tywin Lannister, the leader who feels the need to point out how much power and authority and control he has at every opportunity ultimately doesn’t have very much of any.
Oh this is fantastic. All those Tik Tok morons crying.Now all he needs to do it take down youtube and nationalize Google, Twitter and Facebook.
There you are!!! It’s Saturday! What’s my petty little Pringle mad about today?
Pretty sure he was responding to a question asking if he had the authority. Not sure what you would want him to say there.
It’s a bit like the old joke that a broken clock is right twice a day. Trump is evil but so is TikTok. We really don’t need it.
Facebook should be the priority then.
I feel the same way about Drake, if we’re just going to start banning foreign products.Doesn’t seem all that American, but hey..
I feel bad for the staffer that’s going have to scramble to put together a document that claims he actually has the authority (he doesn’t) to do so.Wait, no I don’t. They chose to sell their soul. They deserve their suffering
They’re in the room next to the lawyers who are paid with taxpayer dollars to find ways for Trump to remain in power past next January, at any cost.
Of course he has the authority. The US government made the internet and owns it. It runs on US government infrastructure. It is easy to ban a website or app, just ask China. Plus with Cyber Command he could simply DOS the entire infrastructure Tik Tok uses to conduct business.
There you are!!! It’s Saturday! What’s my petty little Pringle mad about today?
Nah- that Liberty U reject can sit-and-spin.
The guy’s a sociopathic turd, but frankly this is like banning knock-knock jokes.
Who’s there?
Doctor
Doctor Whom?
Which Doctor?…oh…. witch doctor! I get it!
Orange you glad I didn’t say banana.
The White House is officially Bizarro Jurassic Park.
Your administration were so preoccupied with whether or not they should that they didn’t stop to think if they could.
“tumored up in his brain”The turn of phrase this era needs.
It’s a terrible song, for sure, but did Kesha really deserve it?
He is still holding a grudge over Tulsageddon. K-pop and TikTok fans really screwed him over with the fake registrations. You don’t mess with kids that literally grew up with social media. They invented cyberbullying.
Actually.. no. TikTokers THOUGHT they screwed with his attendance.. but they didn’t. Trump, before the rally actually happened, claimed that over a million registrations happened (for a 19k venue), meaning there was LITERALLY no limit to registrations. TikTokers could have reserved millions upon millions of tickets, there still would have been some left.Which means the low attendance was legit and had nothing to do with the reservations. There were even articles when these fake registrations first started that stated how ineffective this campaign would be because there is no limit to how many people can register.TikTokers THOUGHT they trolled Trump.. but in truth, they just made apparent that he trolled himself.
Trolling only requires making the target mad to be successful. They achieved that by poisoning media coverage before the rally even took place. The actual details don’t matter in his twisted mind.
You are both right. Tik Tok had no real effect on attendance, but Trump is pissed at them because some people think they did.
Your troll’s latest account fyi, feel free to delete this comment-https://kinja.com/dremiliooolizaardo
Thanks. Reported.
Oh this is fantastic. All those Tik Tok morons crying.Now all he needs to do it take down youtube and nationalize Google, Twitter and Facebook.
There you are!!! It’s Saturday! What’s my petty little Pringle mad about today?
The point of pre-registering is to get a feel for the number of people who are interested. Think of it in your personal terms. If you invite 200 people to your party, and 10 rsvp, how many do you actually plan for? You know more than that will show up, but you base your assumptions off of 10. Maybe it’s 50, just to be safe. But if all 200 people respond, and a thousand more tell you “I heard about your party, can I come too?”, then you start to think that maybe attendance will be strong, and I better buy more beer. They always knew that they would never get a million attendees, but with a million responses, they legitimately thought interest was extremely high, and so they rolled out plans b and c, with overflow holding, additional speeches, food vending, portapotties, etc. Every indication was that the Tulsa rally would be a runaway success. Those Tiktok kids or Kpop fans or whoever pulled off the most successful troll ever.
They trolled him by making him and his team think there was going to be a much bigger crowd than there was. Attendance would have still been low, but had they known that they wouldn’t have hyped it so much or had the “overflow” area that ended up being empty and making him look foolish.
Oh this is fantastic. All those Tik Tok morons crying.Now all he needs to do it take down youtube and nationalize Google, Twitter and Facebook.
There you are!!! It’s Saturday! What’s my petty little Pringle mad about today?
Some time ago an RNC planning document cam to light detailing how they were going to demonize China for domestic political purposes before the election. Get their shrinking bigoted base riled up. Lets recall there was absolutely no reason for der fuhrer Trump to start his self-destructive trade wars with China, Canada, Mexico, Germany, etc in the first place.
He may have botched the China deal, but there continues to be every reason to consider China a big looming issue. He was right in that Bush and Obama didn’t do very much to address the trade imbalance.
Sure, but his shrinking bigoted base has no idea what Tik Tok even is.
They think Trump is going to ban clocks. “But, without my tiktok how will I know when Hannity is on?”
You think most of them know how to read a clock? Don’t be silly. It’s totally the other way around. The majority of them tell time by checking to see who is currently yelling about the libs on Fox News. “Is Tucker on? Must be 8 o’clock!”
That’s partially why it’s effective. It’s just an abstract “Chinese computer badthing” that his base doesn’t really understand. So he gets to sound tough, he doesn’t have to explain any details, and they won’t really notice when he’s unable to take meaningful action.
Couldn’t whoever owns the corpse of Vine just resurrect Vine?
There was a Vine 2 recently but it vanished because everyone is on TikTok
POV: You’re a Chinese app that’s popular with children and narcissists. I’m an idiot who’s trying to distract people from my abject failure. I want to ban you. #acting #POV #DonnysGirls
i genuinely think he’s banning it because it’s not like twitter or IG and he doesn’t get it. the man is on social media constantly.
150,000 dead. 1000 more every day. Seemingly no idea or inclination how to make it stop.Putin putting bounties on American service personnel. No response from the White House.Americans banned from traveling to Europe.Race riots across the country. Federal response is to invade Portland.Largest quarterly contraction of the economy literally ever.Still can’t buy disinfectant wipes and occasional shortages at stores like it’s the USSR in the 1980’s.But at least we are protected from kids making short videos.
“But at least we are protected from kids making short videos.”NARRATOR: We were not “protected”.
Hey, I’ll have you know that trump absolved himself of any responsibility for COVID-19, which means he’s not to blame for any deaths!
At least I have no concern about either party winning or losing this fight. So that’s fun for once when it comes to Trump’s stupidity. Go for it guys destroy each other.
Oh this is fantastic. All those Tik Tok morons crying.Now all he needs to do it take down youtube and nationalize Google, Twitter and Facebook.
There you are!!! It’s Saturday! What’s my petty little Pringle mad about today?
Regardless of how you feel about such an action, a reminder that his statement shouldn’t be taken seriously:Two weeks ago, during his interview with Chris Wallace, Trump said “We’re signing a healthcare plan within two weeks, a full and complete healthcare plan.” It’s like, really? Major healthcare legislation, on a national scale, is preceded by hearings, testimony, townhalls, panels of medical experts and healthcare organizations weighing in, think-tanks and special interest groups giving/denying endorsements (e.g., AARP), a torrent of questions about how it affects current healthcare plans, not to mention sociopolitical maneuvering from all sides (progressives demanding single-payer/public option, conservatives complaining they don’t want to fund birth control, etc.). None of that happened, and there is no healthcare plan, because no one took Trump seriously for a fucking second. Even his supporters and the media who fawn over him knew the claim wasn’t real… which is amazing to me, i.e., that even those who support Trump know that most of what he says is not to be taken seriously.
Remember how months of hearings for Obamacare still had McConnell whining about “ramming this bill through without oversight!” Fascinating
Trump is a petty bitch. Sarah Cooper is genius at mocking him on TikTok, therefore he must stop her any way he can. Hence, peak pettybitchness.
What a stupid motherfucker.
“True story. It is.”
I think the article is missing the direct causal link between tik tok and the Tulsa Rally for this “ban”. It wasn’t on the agenda until they catfished the rally and cost them money in over prepping.
I don’t think the money matters at all, Trump doesn’t use his own money or pay for anything. I’m pretty sure his campaign STILL owes money to cities for rallies from the 2016 campaign, I think they still even owe DC money from the inauguration. Its the embarrassment and the video/pictures of the “overflow” section being empty and then taken down that stings him.
While he has no official position, the Biden campaign ordered staff to delete the Tik-Tok app from their phones last week and the Democratic National Committee issued a warning to campaigns almost a month ago.
Good.
Hello.I am aware that my “Best Before” date has receded well into the distance by now. But isn’t TikTok just Vines redux? I have never touched Tik Tok, and have seen clips only in passing, but it sure sounds the same.As for privacy issues, it sure sounds like something that would be a good way for a foreign power to mess around. It’s even the plot of a crap Terminator movie. Man, I find it irksome to side with The Idiot.
on the one hand, India banned Tiktok less for ‘security reasons’ per se, more due to being engaged in a literal stick-with-a-nail-in-it war with China, as we speak.
on the other hand, fuck China, fuck TikTok.
Its about Tik Tok . Oh yes..India had Banned all Chinese apps. Now the world is following