The sequence of events as far as I can recall:
- Trump promised to ban TikTok
- TikTok was slated to be “banned” in the twilight of Biden’s term
- Trump says he’d give it 90 days to make a decision
- Biden decides not to ban it, handing it off to Trump
- TikTok goes dark
- It returns, but if you search for something anti-Trump in the United States, you can’t find it
- Using a VPN will give you that content
- Various news outlets are now calling it Trump’s “Propaganda Arm”
What the fuck is going on? From a political or technological standpoint.
This is key. Trump’s executive order can’t override the law. Executive orders can only interpret the law. With the courts saying the law is valid, TikTok and US hosting companies are understandably hesitant to resume operations just on Trump’s word (which is worthless anyway) that the ban won’t be enforced.