Coco Gauff, the world number 3 women’s Tennis player and 2023 US Open champion, told reporters she hopes TikTok, the international version of Douyin, a short video app popular in China and created by ByteDance, can continue, despite a potential ban in his home country United. States.
TikTok has been under scrutiny in the United States for years, with concerns ranging from national security assessments to legislative action, lawsuits and the looming possibility of a nationwide ban.
“I hope TikTok continues,” Gauff said at a news conference after her 6-3, 7-5 victory over Britain’s Jodie Burrage at the Australian Open. “It’s a good thing for a lot of small businesses and creators in our country to get stories out there. »
The young star added what she would miss most if TikTok made a pig named Merlin disappear.
“There are a lot of trends. There’s like this pig online, his name is Merlin, and he knows how to press buttons so he can talk. He’s a pretty sassy pig, so I’m going to miss Merlin the most,” Gauff said. She has over 755,000 followers on TikTok.
Launched in 2017, TikTok quickly gained popularity globally, becoming the second most downloaded app in the world in 2019, according to data analytics firm SensorTower. That same year, the US Department of Defense recommended that all military personnel remove TikTok from their devices.
-The first presidential administration of Donald Trump launched serious attempts to restrict TikTok in 2020, issuing executive orders citing data collection problems and potential ties to the Chinese government. These efforts encountered legal difficulties that largely blocked their implementation.
Joe Biden’s administration initially postponed lawsuits related to Trump’s ban, effectively ending them, but rival companies like Meta continued to actively portray TikTok as a threat to children.
In the spring of 2024, the US Congress passed the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act, authorizing President Biden to ban applications considered threats to national security. He signed the bill, setting a potential deadline for ByteDance to divest its U.S. operations.
TikTok responded by suing the U.S. government, arguing that the ban was unconstitutional and violated the First Amendment rights of the company and its users. On January 10, 2025, the United States Supreme Court heard arguments in this case, but did not immediately issue a decision.
TikTok stopped working in the United States on Saturday evening and was removed from the Apple and Google app stores before a law came into force on Sunday (January 19) in the country requiring the closure of the platform, used by 170 million of Americans.
