In 2020, the United States government made headlines when it attempted to ban the popular social media app TikTok, citing concerns over national security and data privacy. However, this was not the first time that the US government has attempted to restrict access to TikTok.
In this blog we’ll discuss about the 7 Other Times the U.S. Stupidly Tried to Ban TikTok
Here are seven other instances where the US government tried to ban TikTok, often for questionable reasons.
1.Military personnel were banned from using TikTok (2019)
In December 2019, the US Army banned the use of TikTok on government-issued phones, citing concerns over potential security risks. The Navy followed suit, as did the Department of Defense. However, the military stopped short of issuing an outright ban on TikTok, and instead urged service members to be cautious when using the app.
2.The first attempt at a TikTok ban (2019)
In November 2019, the US government opened a national security review of TikTok’s parent company, Beijing-based ByteDance, over concerns that the company was censoring content that the Chinese government did not approve of. While the review was ongoing, the government considered banning TikTok outright. However, the ban never materialized.
3.Proposed TikTok ban in India (2019)
In April 2019, the Indian government briefly banned TikTok, citing concerns over “pornographic and inappropriate” content. The ban was lifted a few weeks later, after TikTok agreed to remove the offending content.
4.US government considers TikTok ban (2020)
In July 2020, the US government again considered banning TikTok over national security concerns. President Trump issued an executive order that would have effectively banned the app in the US, but the order was later blocked by a federal judge.
5.TikTok’s potential sale (2020)
As the US government continued to express concerns over TikTok’s ownership by a Chinese company, ByteDance considered selling the app’s US operations to an American company. Microsoft and Oracle were among the companies that expressed interest in acquiring TikTok, but the deal never came to fruition.
6.Proposed TikTok ban in Pakistan (2020)
In October 2020, the Pakistani government briefly banned TikTok, citing concerns over “immoral and indecent” content. The ban was lifted a few weeks later, after TikTok agreed to moderate its content in accordance with Pakistani law.
7.Proposed TikTok ban in Indonesia (2020)
In July 2020, the Indonesian government briefly banned TikTok, citing concerns over “pornography, inappropriate content, and blasphemy”. The ban was lifted a few days later, after TikTok agreed to increase its moderation efforts.
Conclusion
TikTok has faced numerous attempts at bans or restrictions from various governments over the past few years. While some concerns, such as data privacy and national security, may be legitimate, other reasons for attempted bans have been questionable at best. TikTok’s popularity and influence continue to grow, and it remains to be seen whether the app will face further attempts at restriction in the future.
