In Hindsight, Trump's Decision to Save TikTok Was a Colossal Mistake
It has been close to two years since President Donald Trump made a push to save the Chinese-created and influenced social media app TikTok.
Congress essentially voted to ban the malicious video-sharing app. The Supreme Court affirmed the legality of letting it go dark.
The app did go dark for a few hours last year. But a push from the president saved it from death on American app stores.
Donald Trump shares new video:
“To all those young people of TikTok, I saved TikTok, so you owe me big….” pic.twitter.com/kMpiczSmYK
— Pop Crave (@PopCrave) October 6, 2025
Before being overly critical of the move, it is important to look at the context of Trump’s decision to save the popular platform.
He was riding high off an election win that saw him dominate every battleground state and win the popular vote after a decisive November 2024 victory.
With that context in mind, Trump threw a lifeline to people who spend their days and nights on its servers, with the wind at his back and the hope of a renewed American spirit.
But the reality is, it seems a plurality of users use their accounts to consume insane theories, cooking videos, and a lot of hate toward America — and Trump.
The early days of Trump’s second term felt like a fresh beginning for the country. The president took what probably looked like an easy political victory by delaying its ban until he could help secure a deal to make TikTok compliant with the law.
Eighteen months later, the app is as big a cancer on society as ever. Content mocking Charlie Kirk’s assassination spreads like wildfire on the platform.
Deranged TikTokers are planning to host parties celebrating the first anniversary of Charlie Kirk’s ass*ssination.
How are we supposed to share a country with these kinds of people?
Pure EVIL pic.twitter.com/5OqulFrbFD
— Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) September 3, 2026
Pro-Lindsay Clancy content has shaped opinions about the morality of a mother murdering three children.
Censorship is also heavy on TikTok, where it isn’t on platforms such as X.
On Thursday, TikToker Braeden Sorbo, one of the few creators on the platform who is both popular and who doesn’t toe the woke line on the service, was banned.
“I was just banned from TikTok at 2.1 million followers,” he posted on X Thursday.
I was just banned from TikTok at 2.1 million followers.
I spent six years building my account, @BraedenSorbo . I covered stories that the mainstream media refused to, and those posts reached tens of millions of people every month who told me how much they appreciated my content.… pic.twitter.com/hVZ88L6dJT
— Braeden (@BraedenSorbo) September 10, 2026
He said he spent six years building his account and covered stories that the mainstream media refused to touch. Every month, those posts reached tens of millions of people who told him how much they appreciated his content and perspective.
TikTok changed its policies, and an automated system decided to apply its new rules retroactively to videos he posted from six months to over a year ago.
The system blitzed him with violations and strikes, despite his content previously having been fine. But censorship rules:
TikTok has removed our post regarding this, as it was deemed to be “misinformation.” We have urgently appealed the decision. https://t.co/j62Q73UNx1
— GB Politics (@GBPolitcs) September 6, 2026
It is ironic that a conservative was banned for hate speech on a platform that pushes videos in support of killing Jews and children.
Lindsay Clancy: “I killed my 3 kids”
TikTok women: https://t.co/8fHux0Ninu pic.twitter.com/04N8k2dSFd
— End Wokeness (@EndWokeness) August 20, 2026
Days before Sorbo got the ban hammer, radio host Erick Erickson, a man whose brand of defeatist conservatism I rarely agree with, wrote:
“Had the President shut down TikTok, so many of the present hysterias would either not exist or be as extreme as they are. TikTok is one of the most significant vectors for social psychosis in this country.”
Had the President shut down TikTok, so many of the present hysterias would either not exist or be as extreme as they are. TikTok is one of the most significant vectors for social psychosis in this country.
— Erick Erickson (@EWErickson) September 6, 2026
Erickson, in this case, is right, specifically regarding the social psychosis. TikTok is the ultimate hangout for hives of insane people.
If you have ever been on TikTok, or if you know people who live on the platform, you’ll know that a person of seemingly sound moral judgment can sign up, and within a few months they’re posting their hatred for Jews, Erika Kirk, Christians, ICE, and Trump.
Trump saved this scourge on society with the best of intentions. As a victim of unrelenting censorship during his first term, it’s hard to blame the president for seeking to keep any platform for free expression alive.
But in hindsight, we’d be better off as a society without the app rotting the brains of otherwise decent people and silencing those whose accounts spread the truth.
WOW. After racking up millions of views and over half a million likes, TikTok is censoring me, blocking my TikToxic Clancy video that details how algorithmic psychosis is driving society into the gutter. Man…the Matrix really doesn’t like it when you unplug… https://t.co/Nr1vYCp5Qb pic.twitter.com/rYFqZ2dcpF
— Spencer Pratt (@spencerpratt) August 25, 2026
This is not a free speech issue. At the end of the day, TikTok is still little more than manipulative malware, and no one will ever convince me otherwise.
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