TikTok's back. So what's next?

For TikTok ‘refugees’ in the US, it’s been a whirlwind weekend. Just 12 hours after a ban on the Chinese-owned app kicked in on Sunday, TikTok restored services for its 170 million users in the US.

But the drama has just started — President-elect Donald Trump has hinted at a 90-day extension from Sunday’s deadline for the US ban on the short video app to kick in, unless it is sold to a non-Chinese owner.

In throwing a lifeline to TikTok, Trump said on Truth Social that he favors American ownership and a 50% stake in the company.

He also urged companies not to let TikTok stay dark, and said companies enabling TikTok’s service wouldn’t face penalties under the ban. Earlier on Sunday, Google and Apple yanked the app from their stores.

TikTok, in a statement on X, thanked Trump for providing “clarity and assurance” to its service providers.

STATEMENT FROM TIKTOK:

In agreement with our service providers, TikTok is in the process of restoring service. We thank President Trump for providing the necessary clarity and assurance to our service providers that they will face no penalties providing TikTok to over 170…
— TikTok Policy (@TikTokPolicy) January 19, 2025

But 12 hours was enough to sucker punch TikTok. According to internet infrastructure provider Cloudflare, TikTok’s traffic fell by as much as 85% in that short period compared to the previous week.

Delaying the inevitable?

The reprieve for TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance gives it more time to weigh its options.

But it’s still unclear if ByteDance will ever be willing to share half of its crown jewel — and its secret sauce, TikTok’s algorithm — with a US owner, even as the list of potential suitors grows.

There was Oracle in the early days of the drama, and the latest bidders include Perplexity AI, billionaire Frank McCourt and Mr Wonderful Kevin O’Leary. Even Elon Musk’s name was thrown in the ring as a possible contender.

Analysts don’t see it. Wedbush analyst Dan Ives, in a note to clients on Sunday, said that “ByteDance will never sell this key DNA.”

Not ByteDance’s first rodeo

ByteDance is a seasoned player when it comes to government bans.

While the most prominent example was in 2020 when TikTok was booted out of India, the app had a more recent run-in with the Indonesian government in 2023.

Then, TikTok’s e-commerce arm, TikTok Shop, was shut because the Indonesian government wanted to protect local businesses from the cheap products being sold on social media platforms.

Within three months, ByteDance acquired Tokopedia, a homegrown e-commerce platform owned by Indonesian tech giant GoTo, enabling the company to continue operating its shopping business in the country.

But TikTok can’t use that playbook now, as its Chinese ownership is the crux of the issue, Xu Tianchen, senior economist at the Economist Intelligence Unit, tells MONIIFY.

Ives thinks that there will be “a slew of TikTok bids to come over the coming weeks,” and Trump’s suggestion for the divesture seems to indicate that the queue will grow longer.

“Without US approval, there is no TikTok. With our approval, it’s worth hundreds of billions—maybe trillions,” says Trump in his Truth Social post.

Waiting game

For now, it’s a waiting game for TikTok ‘refugees’ stateside.

With one-third of American adults using TikTok in 2024, the platform has cemented itself as a cultural force. Many content creators expressed frustration over the ban, saying it disrupted a tool they’ve relied on for years to reach a global audience.

“As a dermatologist, I’ve seen firsthand how TikTok has empowered people to learn about skincare and access expert advice,” Dr Lindsey Zubritsky, a dermatologist in the US tells MONIIFY.

Banning it silences a valuable platform where professionals like herself help individuals improve their skin and confidence, she says. “We should be educating, not eliminating, these spaces for accessible knowledge.”

Edited by Victor Loh. If you have any tips, ideas or feedback, please get in touch: talk-to-us@moniify.com