P.Politics in the United States has had its share of stupid moments, but the recent ban and (sort of) unban of TikTok could be considered one of the stupidest. At the same time, the episode perfectly sums up the present moment: it is a perfect example of Donald Trump’s showmanship, the incompetence of Democrats and the limits of bipartisanship. If I were a TikTok teenager, I’d invent some sort of experimental dance to illustrate these themes, but I’m old and completely devoid of rhythm, so words will have to suffice.
Let’s start with Trump, who, with his usual flair for self-promotion, has positioned himself as the man who brought TikTok back from the dead, despite being responsible for signing its death warrant first place. To refresh everyone’s memory, Trump published a vague message in 2020 decrees which described TikTok and WeChat as threats to national security. There doesn’t seem to be much evidence, Besidesthat TikTok poses no more of a national security threat than any of the other data-sucking apps we all have on our phones. The main argument of its detractors seems to be that it has Chinese owners – and they are clearly we will not be responsible managers of personal data in the same way as Americans like Mark Zuckerberg are.
Trump’s executive orders took effect several years of legal challenges around TikTok. Ultimately, Republicans and Democrats united to try to force the sale of the app; Last April, Joe Biden signed a bipartisan law requiring TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, to sell to a U.S. owner within a year or go out of business. It is increasingly rare for both sides of the aisle to work together toward a common goal: “It took TikTok to bring Republicans and Democrats together in Congress.” Bloomberg marveled at the time. The war in Gaza may have played a role in this sudden spirit of unity: many politicians worried that there were too many lots of pro-Palestinian content on the app. Indeed, Mitt Romney referred to the issue in relation to the “overwhelming support” for shutting down TikTok.
After unleashing all this chaos, Trump began to slowly change his mind about TikTok. In December, he proclaimed that he had a “hot spot” in his heart for the app because it had helped him gain traction among young people. We imagine that part of his heart has become even warmer, as TikTok has now become one of Trump’s biggest cheerleaders. On Saturday night, shortly before the deeply unpopular ban was set to take effect, TikTok went dark for its 170 million American users, but hinted that Trump could save it. Then, less than 24 hours later, TikTok came back to life. Its users were greeted with a welcome message proclaiming: “Thanks to the efforts of President Trump, TikTok is back in the United States. » It was a brilliant communication for the new president.
To be clear, TikTok is not “registered.” Its future is still uncertain and it will probably not continue to exist in its current form for very long. I’m not sure what will happen with this – maybe it will be renamed TrumpTok and sold to Meta, which some say they have tried to do. undermining TikTok for years – but you have to admire the way Trump played this role. He presented himself at his inauguration as the one who had managed to save a popular app from being banned by Democrats. Yes, I know the reality of the situation is much more complex than that, but in politics, perception is reality. And the perception here is that Democrats owned the TikTok ban and Trump overturned it.
To be fair, Trump’s TikTok victory wasn’t entirely his fault. The Democrats basically gift-wrapped it and handed it to him on his knees. But what else do you expect from Democrats? They are bad at messaging. The party is facing its lowest audiences since over 30 years old This is not for nothing: he seems to have no idea who or what he represents and is completely out of touch with popular concerns, especially among young people. Polls show that 58% of Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents say the party needs major changes or even complete reform. It’s not just TikTok that faces an uncertain future; Democrats must evolve before they implode.
Arwa Mahdawi is a columnist at the Guardian