TikTok is a social networking app that has taken America by storm since its release in 2018. The app quickly gained traction with its base of teens and kids who came from the app Musical.ly. Users can post fun, viral sixty second clips. Big names such as Kevin Hart and Paris Hilton have joined the app and capitalized on its fame benefits. The app has also proven to be highly addictive, “I used to spend over an hour on TikTok but now I spend probably five to ten minutes on it,” one Madison student, Nicole Hartogs said when asked how much time she spends on TikTok. “I put a timer on it to help my mental health. I’m less stressed now that I’m not on it as much because I’m not taking in as much information, it’s not like a sensory overload of information for hours a day.”

However, TikTok has been scrutinized as a possible Chinese data farming app designed to steal American data. The Trump administration did not take action, however, until a TikTok “prank” ruined turnout at a Trump rally. The Trump rally was a free rally, the first after quarantine and all anyone who wanted to go had to do was sign up and reserve a seat. Anti Trump TikTok teens started a trend of reserving seats with no plans to actually go. “I can say that I have given the deal my blessing,” Trump said when questioned where he stood about the TikTok ban deal. This is also not the first time TikTok users have experienced a TikTok ban “scare,” the first being earlier this summer. The deal Trump was speaking of, was an official executive order to place a full ban on TikTok from the American app store unless it is bought out by an American company.

The companies Oracle Corporation and Walmart won the bid on buying out TikTok, rather than Microsoft, which was the company most people assumed would purchase the app. Oracle Corporation is an American multinational computer technology corporation that also has a stake in Java and Walmart is a chain discount store. Oracle Corporation bought a stake for profit and Walmart has since said that owning a stake in TikTok will be very useful for its advertising. Trump has since approved that Oracle Corporation and Walmart will take a minority stake in a new US company that will operate TikTok. To the relief of many, TikTok isn’t going anywhere soon.