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.
It’s Trump, the Republicans, Musk, and other billionaires using the power of the government to coerce Bytedance into actions that will be favorable to them. It’s kind of Trump’s MO; threaten people/corporations to enrich his family or otherwise benefit him in some way. They will likely force Bytedance to sell TikTok at a large discount to the government and Trump’s friends.