The TikTok fiasco has seen attacks launched from both sides of the isle, where the U.S. government keeps moving to ban the app, and ByteDance keeps trying to avoid it. Amid all of this, the people who use the app have been reduced to spectators, waiting for these big corporations to decide their future. Well, no more. TikTok stars have moved to get the November 12 ban on the app stopped, and have succeeded in their movement.
On Friday, a federal judge in Pennsylvania issued an injunction, effectively stopping the November 12 ban on TikTok.
Last month, a D.C. judge blocked the ban that would have taken TikTok off of app stores in the country. However, that order did not talk about the upcoming November 12 ban, which would have allowed telecom companies around US to stop providing services to TikTok. This means that if TikTok stars had not gotten involved, TikTokers across the country would have been unable to use the platform, even if they could still download it from app stores.
The ban was stopped by the actions of Douglas Marland, who has 2.7 million followers on the app; Alec Chambers who has 1.8 million followers; and Cosette Rinab who has 2.3 million followers. They argued that if US were to ban the app, they would lose access to no just their followers, but their income as well. The Judge said that a ban on the app would affect more than 100 million users of TikTok, and creators like Marland, Chambers and Rinab, and given how the government has failed to state the risk associated with the app, the risk to public interest outweighs the claims by the administration.
“We are deeply moved by the outpouring of support from our creators, who have worked to protect their rights to expression, their careers, and to help small businesses, particularly during the pandemic,” said Vanessa Pappas, Interim Global Head of TikTok, in a statement. “We stand behind our community as they share their voices, and we are committed to continuing to provide a home for them to do so,” she added.
However, even with this win, the future of TikTok still remains uncertain. Is TikTok Global still on the cards? What would Trump’s reaction to this decision be? These are just one of the few questions that still remain unanswered.
