In 2017, the app called Musical.ly was acquired by ByteDance Ltd.. In 2018, it merged with a Chinese app and became what is known as TikTok.
At first, the platform was focused on short-length videos, but with time, the possible length was increased and as of today the app allows users to record up to 10 minutes and upload up to 60 minutes of video.
These videos can be of any type, from dancing to food preparation and educational videos. Just as the length of the videos was short, its popularity wasn’t very significant at first either.
Everything started slowly changing in 2019 when Lil Nas X’s song “Old Town Road” became one of the first songs to have a trendy moment on the app. From that point on, the musical artist started viewing this app as another way to reach fans.
Pretty soon after that, COVID-19 lockdowns happened and with people spending way more time at home than usual, the app’s audience grew rapidly, reporting a 45% increase in monthly active users between July 2020 and July 2022. In 2024, it was among the most popular apps worldwide.
Yet, not all was well. Ever since 2019, politicians have been ringing the bells about TikTok’s safety, calling for a federal investigation of Musical.ly's acquisition; a national security probe into TikTok and other Chinese-owned apps; and The Pentagon recommending U.S. military personnel delete TikTok, culminating in talks of banning it.
The first (or at least one of the first) discussions were ignited by Donald Trump in 2020 when he considered it retaliation for China’s alleged mishandling of the COVID-19 pandemic or, as other sources say, because he viewed it as a national security threat.
Ever since, once in a while, new rumors and political actions about TikTok’s ban would happen, but nothing serious came of it until recently. It was announced that the app would be shut down in the US on January 19th, 2025. Creators started posting apologies and revelations, which led some people to say it felt like the end of the Titanic.
Going along with this trend, one former employee of the company decided it was time to spill secrets on X (formerly Twitter) on his account @armankhon. He tweeted “I quit my $330k engineering job at TikTok. Supreme Court upholds TikTok ban. Ask Me Anything,” and soon questions started flowing in.
As promised, the man started answering them. That’s what today’s list is made up of – the questions and his answers to them. They reveal various sides of the app itself and its future, from what kind of content was the most famous to what the planned ban means for it and American society as a whole. Check it out yourself; the answers are both fun and informative.
There were attempts to stop the ban from happening, but they ended up being fruitless. Or people were led to believe so. The ban happened on the day it was promised, but it didn’t last long – only about 12 hours. As people from other places in the world joked, they barely had any time to properly start enjoying the platform without Americans before they came back.
So, now all the spilled secrets are basically for nothing, since the app is running just as well as it always did. Unless another ban is in the works. Or something else, like its purchase, which is guaranteed to change things up.
What’s your take on the TikTok ban controversy? Share with us in the comments!
