Your Audience Would Rather Have You Eliminated from the Market Than Masquerade as Something You Are Not

On January 19th, TikTok experienced a 14-hour ban in the United States, citing security concerns. Recently-elected President Trump signed an executive order to bring the app back for 90 days, giving TikTok enough time to potentially be sold to an American company. Despite TikTok being as beloved as it was, the response to the news wasn't greeted as positively as expected.

TikTok is a well-known social media app that allows users to create short videos. It's been a significant source of marketing for small businesses and the music industry. When TikTok was first threatened with being banned in the United States due to its company, ByteDance, having connections to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). TikTok advocated itself as a place for free speech and promised to try to stay in business for as long as possible. 

When the CEO of ByteDance responded to the Supreme Court's 9-0 decision to ban TikTok in the United States, the comment sections had many reactions from their demographic. Obviously, many people were upset when TikTok was banned almost sooner than expected. Even after the ban was lifted, it was difficult for people to reload it from the app store.

However, more prominently, many comments commented on videos and comments that had #freepalestine in them. Specifically, they commented on how said videos and comments were being more censored with the recent unbanning of TikTok, even though TikTok was one of the biggest social media platforms that featured content that raised awareness around what was happening in Palestine, including the rapid genocide.

I had worked with The Borgen Project, a nonprofit organization that had a focus on the experiences that aid workers had in Gaza. Additionally, I witnessed the Gaza protests at Oregon State University. So I commented on how TikTok reducing the outreach of pro-Palestine content, serving as a contradiction towards what the company was suppose to promote.

Additionally, some users commented on the shady practices used to bring TikTok back to the United States. A few commenters noticed that President Trump pushed for the ban of TikTok back in 2019 and only changed his policy for his 2024 reelection.

TikTok's CEO promised free speech to app users, to the point that, despite TikTok not being an app founded in the United States, it was a symbol of the First Amendment found in the Constitution. But when looking at the comments above, how much of that truly applies? Mainly after TikTok has been brought back to the market.

Arguably, TikTok had a considerable advantage when the app was threatened by the ban. It could spend its marketing on how the ban was unfair censorship against a private company. TikTok was branding itself as more than just a fun app you could be on with your friends, but a safe haven for ideas that aren't marketed on any other social media platform. For the most part, the strategy worked on its audience, who waited patiently for a resolution of a battle that reached the Supreme Court.

As of today, TikTok hasn't responded to how one of its most significant social movements has been quietly silenced on its platform. In many ways, I can understand, given that the #freepalestine movement has been accused of antisemitism and glorification of the terrorist organization Hamas. Shareholders, mainly of Jewish descent, may not want to invest in a company that promotes such ideals. However, it should be known that many in the #freepalestine movement aren't anti-Semitic; some are, in fact, of Jewish descent, too. If I were a brand manager, I would try to acknowledge the most prominent political movements on my platform, as long as they were not promoting hate speech.

Overall, the recent case of TikTok shows how a platform and its marketing can unintentionally contradict themselves. TikTok's current praise towards President Trump on its other social media apps comes off as shady to its audience, making them more prone to conspiracy theories that the whole ban was a marketing ploy to get it sold in the United States. TikTok tries to market itself as a safe haven for controversial political movements. Still, users mock TikTok in the comment section by posting a hashtag that is currently being restricted on the app. Only a few are just wanting the app back. It all proves one thing, when marketing, especially when your company is threatened to be banned, don't contradict yourself to your audience. Because your audience would rather have you eliminated from the market than masquerade as something you are not.