August 2020 was a weird time. We were all stuck at home, sourdough starters were dying on kitchen counters, and suddenly, the biggest app in the world was on the chopping block. It feels like a lifetime ago, but the trump banned tiktok 2020 saga was basically the first shot fired in a digital cold war that’s still raging today.
Honestly, if you were on the app back then, you remember the vibe. One day you’re learning a Renegade dance, and the next, your favorite creators are posting "goodbye" videos and linking their Instagram bios like the ship was sinking. It wasn't just political theater; it was a genuine mess of executive orders, secret boardroom deals, and a very confused Oracle.
The Summer of the Executive Order
It all started with a pen stroke. On August 6, 2020, President Trump signed Executive Order 13942. The "why" was pretty straightforward in the government's eyes: national security. The administration argued that TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, was basically a bridge for the Chinese Communist Party to grab American data.
The order didn’t just say "TikTok is bad." It effectively told ByteDance they had 45 days to sell the U.S. operations or face a total blackout. No more downloads from the Apple App Store or Google Play. No more technical hosting. Basically, a digital death sentence.
A week later, Trump doubled down with another order, giving them 90 days to divest. This one was even more specific. It was based on a recommendation from CFIUS (the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States). They had looked back at the 2017 deal where ByteDance bought Musical.ly—the app that eventually became TikTok—and basically said, "Actually, we shouldn't have let that happen."
Why Was the App Actually Targeted?
You’ve probably heard the rumors. Some people swear it was because TikTok teens and K-pop stans "pranked" a Trump rally in Tulsa by reserving thousands of tickets they never intended to use. While that made for great headlines, the legal reality was a bit more "suit and tie" than that.
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The government's primary beef was the 2017 National Intelligence Law in China. This law basically says Chinese companies have to help the government with intelligence work if asked. The U.S. logic was:
- TikTok collects a massive amount of user data (biometrics, location, browsing history).
- ByteDance is a Chinese company.
- Therefore, the CCP has a back door to 100 million American phones.
TikTok, for their part, screamed from the rooftops that they’d never been asked for data and wouldn't give it up if they were. They pointed out that their CEO at the time was American (briefly, Kevin Mayer) and their servers were in the U.S. and Singapore. But in 2020, that wasn't enough to calm the storm.
The Weird Oracle and Walmart "Deal"
Remember when Oracle and Walmart suddenly became the "saviors" of Gen Z's favorite app? That was a wild week. For a minute there, it looked like Microsoft was going to buy TikTok. They had the cash, the infrastructure, and the motivation.
But then, out of nowhere, Oracle—a company mostly known for boring enterprise database software—entered the chat.
The deal that almost happened was a "trusted technology provider" partnership. It wasn't even a full sale. Oracle and Walmart were going to take a combined 20% stake in a new entity called TikTok Global. Oracle would host the data on its cloud servers to prove no one in Beijing was peeking. Trump even gave it his "preliminary approval" during a campaign rally.
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But the deal was basically a ghost. It was stuck in a "he-said, she-said" loop. ByteDance said they’d still own 80% of the company; Oracle said ByteDance would have zero ownership. It was a total mess of corporate ego and geopolitical posturing that eventually just... fizzled out.
Why the Ban Never Actually Happened
So, if there was an executive order, why can you still scroll TikTok today? Simple: the courts.
TikTok didn’t just sit there and take it. They sued. And a group of creators—including a comedian and a fashion designer—sued too, arguing that a ban would ruin their livelihoods and violate their First Amendment rights.
Two major court rulings essentially put the brakes on everything:
- Judge Wendy Beetlestone in Pennsylvania blocked the ban in October 2020, saying the government’s descriptions of the security threat were "phrased in the hypothetical."
- Judge Carl Nichols in D.C. (interestingly, a Trump appointee) also blocked the move, ruling that the administration likely overstepped its authority under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA).
The judges basically told the White House they couldn't just ban a platform used for "informational materials" and personal communication without way more proof of an immediate, non-hypothetical threat.
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The 2026 Perspective: Was Trump Right?
It’s kind of funny looking back. In 2020, a lot of people thought the trump banned tiktok 2020 move was just election-year posturing. But fast forward to 2026, and the tone has changed completely.
The Biden administration eventually revoked those specific 2020 executive orders, but they didn't let TikTok off the hook. Instead, they started a whole new investigation. By 2024, there was broad bipartisan support for a law that would actually force a sale or ban.
Even the Supreme Court eventually weighed in, upholding the 2024 divestiture law. It turns out, the "national security" argument that felt like a reach in 2020 became the standard view of the U.S. government by 2026.
What We Learned From the 2020 Mess
The 2020 attempt was a bit of a chaotic "test run" for how the U.S. handles foreign tech. If you’re trying to keep up with where this is going next, here’s the deal:
- Diversify your platform: If you’re a creator, the 2020 scare taught everyone that you shouldn't put all your eggs in one basket. Always have a backup on YouTube or Instagram.
- Watch the legal precedents: The 2020 court wins for TikTok were based on specific laws (like IEEPA) that Congress has since worked to update or bypass.
- Data is the new oil: The fight was never really about the videos; it was about who owns the data of 170 million people.
If you want to protect your own digital footprint, your next step should be checking your app permissions. Go into your phone settings and see just how much "unnecessary" data you're giving away—not just to TikTok, but to every app you use. It’s a small move, but after everything that happened in 2020, it's pretty clear that data privacy is a personal responsibility as much as a political one.