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SAN FRANCISCO — If it seems like TikTok has existed for eternity, that’s likely because it has, especially when evaluated through the lens of internet time. What’s currently under scrutiny is whether it will persist much longer and, if so, in what capacity?
Beginning in 2017, when the Chinese video-sharing social platform combined with its rival Musical.ly, TikTok transformed from a specialized teenage application into a worldwide pioneer. Simultaneously, it has emerged as a potential national security concern, as per U.S. officials.
On April 24, President Joe Biden ratified a law mandating that TikTok’s parent company ByteDance divest to an American owner within a year or cease operations. TikTok and its China-based parent entity, ByteDance, lodged a lawsuit against the U.S., contending that the security worries were exaggerated and that the legislation should be annulled as it infringes on the First Amendment.
The TikTok logo is showcased on a mobile phone, Friday, Jan. 17, 2025, in Denver.
AP Photo/David Zalubowski
The Supreme Court on Friday unanimously affirmed the federal statute prohibiting TikTok, resulting in the popular short-form video platform going offline in the U.S. – merely hours before the prohibition was scheduled to take effect.
Here’s how TikTok arrived at this point:
ByteDance is established in China by entrepreneur Zhang Yimin. Its inaugural successful product is Toutiao, a tailored news aggregator for Chinese users.
The startup Musical.ly, later recognized for its namesake application used for posting brief lip-syncing music videos, is founded in China by entrepreneur Alex Zhu.
Musical.ly reaches #1 in the Apple App Store, following a redesign that made the company’s logo visible when users shared their videos.
ByteDance introduces Douyin, a video-sharing application for Chinese consumers. Its success leads the company to develop a version for international users named TikTok.
ByteDance purchases Musical.ly for $1 billion. Nine months after, ByteDance integrates it with TikTok.
Fueled by an algorithm that incentivizes binge-watching, users begin to present a diverse range of video content on the app, including dance routines, culinary recipes, and various “challenges” prompting them to perform, record, and share acts that vary from serious to humorous.
Rapper Lil Nas X releases the country-trap hit “Old Town Road” on TikTok, where it becomes a viral sensation and propels the song to a record 17-week tenure at the #1 position on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. This phenomenon ignites a surge of TikTok content from music artists who swiftly recognize TikTok as an essential avenue to connect with fans.
TikTok resolves federal accusations of infringing U.S. child-privacy regulations and consents to pay a fine of $5.7 million.
The Washington Post reveals that while images of the Hong Kong democratic protests and police actions are prevalent on numerous social media platforms, they are notably missing on TikTok. Additionally, it’s reported that TikTok posts tagged with #trump2020 amassed over 70 million views.
The corporation asserts that TikTok’s content moderation, executed within the U.S., is not accountable and maintains that the app serves as a venue for entertainment, not political discourse.
The Guardian reports on internal communications that allegedly outline how TikTok directs its moderators to eliminate or curtail the visibility of videos addressing subjects sensitive to China such as the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests and ensuing massacre, Tibetan independence, or the sanctioned religious group Falun Gong.
U.S. lawmakers begin to express concern over TikTok’s influence, urging a federal investigation into its acquisition of Musical.ly and a national security inquiry into TikTok and other Chinese-owned applications. Reports indicate that this investigation commences in November.
The Pentagon advises that all members of the U.S. military remove TikTok from their devices, both personal and government-issued. Some branches prohibit the app on military-operated devices. In January, the Pentagon enforces a ban on the application across all military devices.
TikTok attains the status of the second-most downloaded application globally, according to analytics firm SensorTower.
Privacy organizations file a complaint alleging TikTok is…still breaching U.S. child-safety regulations and disregarding a settlement agreement from 2019. The organization states it “takes the matter of safety seriously” and is persistently enhancing protections.
TikTok appoints former Disney official Kevin Mayer as its chief executive officer in a clear effort to enhance its relationships in the U.S. Mayer steps down just three months later.
In reaction to a border confrontation with China, India prohibits TikTok along with numerous other Chinese applications.
President Donald Trump declares he is contemplating a ban on TikTok as a response to China’s purported mismanagement of the COVID-19 crisis.
Trump issues a broad yet ambiguous executive order prohibiting American firms from any “transaction” with ByteDance and its subsidiaries, including TikTok. A few days later, he enacts another directive mandating that ByteDance separate itself from TikTok’s U.S. operations within 90 days.
Microsoft verifies it is looking into acquiring TikTok. However, the agreement never comes to fruition; a similar approach from Oracle and Walmart also fails. Meanwhile, TikTok takes legal action against the Trump administration for alleged infringement of due process regarding its executive directives.
Joe Biden is elected president. Although he doesn’t propose any new policy regarding TikTok and won’t assume office until January, Trump’s strategy to compel a sale of TikTok begins to dissolve. The Trump administration prolongs the deadlines it had set for ByteDance and TikTok and ultimately allows them to lapse entirely.
President Joe Biden, who has just taken the oath, delays the legal disputes tied to Trump’s initiative to ban TikTok, effectively halting them.
T
ikTok discloses it has over a billion monthly active users.
A report from the Wall Street Journal reveals that TikTok’s algorithms can inundate adolescents with a deluge of detrimental content, including videos promoting extreme dieting, a variant of eating disorder.
TikTok proclaims new regulations aimed at curbing the dissemination of harmful content such as viral deception and the promotion of eating disorders.
“The Unofficial Bridgerton Musical,” a project created by two fans of the Netflix series as a TikTok initiative, secures the Grammy for Best Musical Theater Album.
TikTok ascends to the title of the most downloaded application globally, surpassing Instagram, based on SensorTower statistics.
BuzzFeed reports that employees of ByteDance located in China have repeatedly accessed the private information of TikTok users, as revealed by leaked audio from over 80 internal TikTok meetings. TikTok responds with a vague statement emphasizing its dedication to security, which does not specifically address the BuzzFeed findings.
TikTok also announces it has transferred its user data to U.S. servers managed by U.S. tech company Oracle. However, this does not alleviate concerns among U.S. officials regarding the potential for Chinese authorities to access U.S. user information.
FBI Director Christopher Wray expresses national security worries about TikTok, cautioning that Chinese officials might exploit the app’s recommendation algorithm for influence operations.
ByteDance also announced the termination of four employees who accessed data on journalists from BuzzFeed News and The Financial Times while attempting to identify leaks of confidential information related to the firm.
The White House mandates federal agencies to delete TikTok from all government-issued mobile devices within 30 days. Both the FBI and the Federal Communications Commission caution that ByteDance might share TikTok user information with the authoritarian government of China.
Legislators interrogate TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew during a six-hour congressional hearing where Chew, who hails from Singapore, endeavors to counter accusations that TikTok and ByteDance serve as instruments for the Chinese government.
TikTok states it is limiting a tool that certain researchers use to evaluate popular videos on the platform.
A bill aiming to either ban TikTok or compel its sale to a U.S. firm gains momentum in Congress. TikTok brings numerous creators to Washington to advocate for legislators to reconsider, while highlighting modifications the company has implemented to safeguard user information. TikTok also irritates lawmakers by sending alerts to users urging them to “speak up now” or face the risk of TikTok being banned; ensuing calls flood congressional offices.
The House of Representatives advances the TikTok ban-or-sell bill.
The Senate follows suite, transmitting the bill to President Biden, who endorses it.
TikTok and its Chinese parent corporation ByteDance file a lawsuit against the U.S. federal government to contest a law that would compel the sale of ByteDance’s interest or face a ban, asserting that the law breaches the Constitution.
Former President Donald Trump joins TikTok and begins sharing campaign-centric content.
Vice President Kamala Harris also joins TikTok, beginning to share campaign-related materials.
A panel from a federal appeals court unanimously upheld a statute that could result in a TikTok ban, delivering a significant setback to the widely used social media platform as it contends for its existence in the U.S. The panel of judges dismissed the company’s challenge against the regulation, which it claimed violated the First Amendment.
President-elect Donald Trump requested the Supreme Court to delay the potential ban on TikTok until his administration could pursue a “political resolution” to the matter.
The Supreme Court affirms the federal law prohibiting TikTok, effective unless it is sold by its China-based parent company, asserting that the national security risk posed by its connections to China outweighs concerns about restricting speech through the app. A ban is scheduled to commence on Jan. 19, 2025.
Shortly before a federal ban was set to come into effect, TikTok users in the United States found themselves unable to watch videos on the widely used social media platform.
“A law prohibiting TikTok has been implemented in the U.S.,” a notification in the app indicated. “Regrettably, this means you can’t utilize TikTok for now.”
The application was also taken down from major app stores, including those operated by Apple and Google, while its site informed users that the short-video platform was no longer accessible.
Copyright © 2025 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.
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