The future of TikTok is being decided this week

Trump warmed to TikTok during an election year, promising to protect the beloved app. One of TikTok’s biggest investors, billionaire Jeff Yass, was also one of Trump’s biggest donors. He also used it to his advantage: Over the summer, Trump joined TikTok and amassed millions of followers and collaborations with popular broadcasters who played a major role in wooing his campaign to young voters. His many podcast appearances with the likes of Joe Rogan, the Nelk Boys, and Andrew Schultz were also cut and shared in bite-sized pieces across the app.

More than 170 million Americans use TikTok, according to the latest numbers shared by the company. Only 32 percent of Americans support a ban on TikTok, according to a recent Pew poll. When a similar survey was conducted in May 2023, 50 percent of Americans supported it.

Trump’s inauguration is scheduled for January 20, a day after the deadline to give TikTok more time to find a buyer. I would bet that Biden will decide to extend it, making TikTok a problem for Trump in the future, but the current president has not given any signs of what he might do. The White House did not respond to a request for comment from WIRED.

While Trump may have won TikTok this cycle, Democrats don’t see the app as a lost cause. In fact, Democratic strategists I spoke with argue that being on the app is more necessary than ever.

“I am against the ban. It’s not only going to hurt us with younger voters, it’s going to take away a channel where Democrats can compete to get their message out,” said Ryan Davis, founder and CEO of People First, a political lobbying and public relations firm partnering with the organization. Biden and Harris campaigns. “Trump may have won TikTok in 2024, but that’s the channel Democrats have to compete on the most.”

I honestly don’t know if TikTok will come out on top this week. During oral arguments in September, the justices did not sound too sold on the idea that the law was, which is illegal. Most likely, we will still be stuck in this maze of not knowing whether we will be able to scroll and view important and valuable content like this.

Chatroom

WHAT DO YOU THINK? Is there still reason to believe that TikTok poses a threat to US national security? Even if that’s true, is this bill the best way to protect US app users from foreign surveillance? Personally, I’ve always thought that the law is an ancestor. If the Chinese government really wanted my data, they could easily buy it from some shady online seller.

Send your thoughts to mail@wired.com.

WIRED Reads

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What We Learn

🔗 Six Hours Under Martial Law in Seoul: Verge editor Sarah Jeong found herself in the middle of history this week when she visited Seoul. On Tuesday morning, you saw protests against martial law… (edge)

🔗 How the Supreme Court’s Sex Care Case Could Replicate All of Health Care: The Supreme Court heard the arguments United States v. Skrmetti on Wednesday that could determine the future of trans health care in America. It may also have negative effects on other health care issues such as abortion rights. (Maths)

🔗 Professor Apologizes For Using Fake AI-Generated Quotes In Defense Of Minnesota’s Unconstitutional Deepfake Law: Minnesota is about to adopt a new law banning deepfakes, and one of the state’s biggest witnesses was caught using the same tools to protect the laws. The hypocrisy is funny enough, but the chatbot does a whole other research citation. (Techdirt)

The Download

On this week’s WIRED Politics Lab podcast, Leah spoke with HUMAN security and investigative editor Andrew Couts and business editor Louise Matsakis about protecting themselves from government surveillance. There are a lot of helpful tips out there, go listen.

It’s been a big week of big conversations at WIRED! Check out coverage of our event in San Francisco this week. And don’t miss Steven Levy’s killer interview with Apple CEO Tim Cook on our YouTube channel here.

Moreover, there is one thing that our nation can agree on.

That’s it for today—thanks again for subscribing. You can contact me via email, Instagram, Xand Signal at makenakelly.32.