TikTok is banned then not banned: how the Internet reacted

It’s been a crazy weekend for TikTok. On Sunday, the video-sharing platform was banned in the United States, meaning it no longer worked for users. But that was not the end of the drama. After just 14 hours, TikTok was lifted from its ban and resumed operations, which she attributed to “the result of President Trump’s efforts.”

Unsurprisingly, this streak of affairs threw the Internet into a tailspin.

Throughout this TikTok ban and unban saga, social media has been ablaze with comments and memes. Beyond its entertainment value, it’s a great example of how the Internet responds to rapid changes in the world and how it helps people make sense of the news cycle.

But first, let’s look at what happened.

Why was TikTok banned? And then not banned?

TikTok was initially banned due to concerns about US national security and user privacy.

The story began in 2020, when Donald Trump ordered ByteDance, the owner of TikTok, to sell the platform’s activities in the United States.

This potential regulation remained cold during the early part of Biden’s presidency, but after FBI Director Christopher Wray warned that the Chinese government could use TikTok as a tool of influence in 2022, a bill against social network has grown.

Two years later, the House of Representatives and the Senate passed a bill requiring that the US arm of TikTok be banned or sold. ByteDance tried to combat this, but was unsuccessful, resulting in the ban on Sunday, January 19.

Yet, just as people couldn’t access the app in the United States, there was another twist in the story. Just 14 hours after the ban, TikTok was back:

President-elect Donald Trump has promised to end the ban on TikTok as soon as he takes office, which he will achieve by extending the deadline ByteDance needs to sell the app.

For US users, TikTok is not banned and can be used freely. For now at least.

How did the internet react to TikTok being banned and unbanned?

It was a chaotic time online. Before the TikTok ban went into effect, many people created memes about alternatives to the platform, like this one on Instagram Reels:

While other people combined other popular memes with the news of TikTok’s upcoming ban:

When the TikTok ban actually happened, one type of key message involved people mocking their own reaction to the event:

In addition to joking about alternatives to the social platform:

Once TikTok lifted, the internet continued to joke around, although sometimes with a slightly more serious edge.

Some posts were similar to those shared above, shedding light on their own reactions to the news:

But others considered how wise the political decision to lift the TikTok ban was:

What does the social media reaction to the ban and lifting of the ban on TikTok mean?

There are a few concurrent elements at work in the internet’s reaction to the ban and unbanning of TikTok. Some simply involve the engagement opportunities possible for a hot topic of such magnitude, others as a coping mechanism for the loss of the platform, but one of the most interesting is how media social networks function as an information channel.

We live in the data age, a time where we are constantly exposed to a wide range of stimuli and material. Driven primarily by social media and the Internet, some researchers refer to the impact of these phenomena on humanity as “information overload.”

One of the consequences of this situation is disconnection. No one is capable of having a firm grip on All it happens. Information evolves and transforms so quickly that it’s difficult to fully understand it – or even just follow a story in its entirety – because thousands of other things are competing for our attention.

This creates a double problem. The first is that we feel distant from what is happening, and the second is that it can be confusing to get to the heart of what is happening.

And social networks can contribute to this.

Creating memes and posting about something like the TikTok ban can help people feel more in control of what’s happening because they can take action on a story, even if it’s not about than posting a funny picture.

The second part of the information overload that social media can help with is providing a simple summary for people. When TikTok was banned and lifted for several hours, it was a chaotic time for many, with a deluge of people not knowing exactly what was happening.

Memes and posts are an antidote to this. Not only do they summarize a story in a short and readable way, they do it in an entertaining way.

Beyond that, rather than just describing a story, they can place it in a broader context, which can help form an opinion on an issue, rather than just knowing what happened. Again, this can give people a sense of control, that they not only know the facts, but have actually interpreted them.

Ultimately, the banning and unbanning of TikTok in the span of 14 hours was a period of online chaos. Yes, people were joking and creating memes for fun, but the format serves a deeper purpose than just humor. They can be a way to make sense of the world, provide context in confusing times, and provide a sense of control in a chaotic world.

The ban and unbanning of TikTok has been a difficult time for some, but one thing is for sure: memes have made things easier.