Director of Centre for Journalism Innovation and Development (CJID), Mr Akintunde Babatunde has expressed concern over the fate of users after the ban in the United States of social media platform, TikTok.
LEADERSHIP recalls that the US Supreme Court banned operations of TikTok over data privacy related to national security, resulting in wielding the big stick, days to the inauguration of US President-elect Donald Trump.
Babatunde, who is currently in the United States where he is participating among the 2025 cohort of the Media Transformation Challenge Fellowship at the Poynter Institute for Media Studies in Florida, expressed his concern on Sunday.
He said the TikTok ban raises many critical questions, noting particularly the fate of countless creators based in the U.S. who rely on their TikTok accounts as a primary source of income.
“How will businesses, which have built entire strategies around TikTok to sell products and connect with customers, adapt to this seismic shift?
“This single policy decision—if upheld—has the potential to dramatically reshape the U.S. digital economy.
“This isn’t just about an app; it’s about geopolitics 101. The ban reflects the growing intersection of technology, national security, and global power struggles. And let’s be clear, this story is far from over. The ripple effects will be long-lasting, and the stakes couldn’t be higher for creators, businesses, and the broader digital landscape in the U.S.,” he noted.
The CJID director of programmes stressed that the TikTok ban is a perfect example of how geopolitics can transform economic and social ecosystems in an instant.
He charged the the app’s users to “Buckle up, this is going to be a long and fascinating ride!”
No fewer than 170 million TikTok users in the U.S. were jolted late Saturday night when the enormously popular video-sharing app became inaccessible.
TikTok on Saturday voluntarily shut down service to its users ahead of Sunday, January 19, 2025 ban.
Most users woke up on Sunday to open the app only to be greeted with a message stating, “Sorry, TikTok isn’t available right now.”
“A law banning TikTok has been enacted in the U.S.,” the message reads.
“Unfortunately, that means you can’t use TikTok for now. We are fortunate that President Trump has indicated that he will work with us on a solution to reinstate TikTok once he takes office. Please stay tuned!”
In the same vein, TikTok is no longer available in the Apple or Google Play stores in the United States.
Authorities in the U.S. as well as lawmakers have raised the alarm for years about the supposed risks that TikTok’s ties to China pose to national security.
Due to this concern, Congress moved last year to force TikTok’s Chinese parent company, ByteDance to sell its stake in the app or be cut off from the U.S. market.
The law gave the company a deadline of January 19, a day before the inauguration of Trump as president.
Trump who was himself a staunch opponent of TikTok has recently shifted his ground, giving a hope of assisting the app from escaping the ban.
As predicted by Babatunde, time will tell what the incoming administration in the United States can do to safe the operation of the video-sharing app or if the ban signals the final termination of its operations in the world’s most powerful country.
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